Hector on Magvel
by MageKirby
Summary: Like the title says, Hector is on Magvel. On the harbor on the left lower corner of Magvel, Fargus lands the troops after a storm in the on the way home from Dreaded Isle, after the fight with Nergal and the fire dragon. Meanwhile, Ephraim have just fough
1. The Beginning

"Fargus! Where are we?" a blue haired boy by the name of Hector yelled at the ship's captain. He wore an axe by the name of Armads at his side, proudly. He and his friends, or so called army had just witnessed an adventure that would surely be retold by many generations. But this story will never be told by the people of Phaeran, Ostia, Lycia, Ilia, or Sacae. This story has been in the homes of Renais and its neighboring countries.

"Here it is! The continent: Magvel!" Fargus introduced the wondrously busy harbor to the army he was transporting. Everyone on the ship were excited to set foot on this new place, except for the two marquesses and a warrior by the name of Dorcas, who was worried about his wife back at home. "Fargus, we're supposed to be on our way back home, not on another island making merry." Hector complained to the Berserker. "Sorry lads, our ship is damaged up from yesterday's sail. Yesterday's storm wasn't a pretty one. And if it wasn't for my boy, Dart, your friend there, Sain, would've drowned. Be patient and wait for a couple of weeks so I can fix up my ship and have enough supplies to get us home. Eliwood nodded in agreement while Hector was red and looked as if he would explode any minute.

Outside the captain's cabin, the army of the marquesses looked eager to get off the boat. And almost everyone has already made plans on what to do when they do leave. All they needed was their lords' permission to leave their post. They all thought it was a reward after their dreaded fight with the dark druid and the fire dragon.

Finally, Hector and Eliwood made themselves visible on the deck. Hector cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, we are on a continent called Magvel. You have my and lord Eliwood's permission to abandon your place for now, unless said other wise. Now go." The mercenaries left the ship and went into to the busy streets of the harbor.

As the men left the boat and disappeared into the numberless crowd, Eliwood gave out a sigh. He turned to find only few of the army that has remained with him. Two paladins, a general, two heroes, a bishop, and a valkyrie. One of the hero came forward. He was dressed in green armor and wore his brave sword and his shield on his back. The hero made a vow and said, "Lord Eliwood, I know my orders from the former marquess were to protect you, but I request for my absence while we are in Magvel. And-""Harken! What are you thinking? Are you not feeling well? Did you not hear what Lord Eliwood said?" the old paladin, Marcus scolded Harken. "My lord said we have the right to abandon our post for-""There! Now make yourself scarce before I draw my lance!" Marcus interrupted again. Harken let out a smile to Eliwood and Marcus, which was replied by a smile from the old paladin. Then, Harken walked towards Isadora, another paladin at his rank and deserted the boat.

Hector finally came back to his calm self. "Hey! You three over there! Didn't we tell you to leave this boat until it's fixed?" A hero, one of the three, gave a ice cold look to the axe wielder, but was held back by his sister Priscilla. The bishop, Lucius, stepped forward and said, "No my lord, we kind of decided to stay and guard the boat since everyone is leaving. We know nothing of this place so precaution sounded like the best idea." "Alright, you three may stay and lend Fargus and his men a hand if things go out of hand." Hector said. Then he glanced over at Oswin, his guardian general, and Marcus, his friend's guardian paladin. Isn't it about time you two took a break? We can go around by ourselves you know." "Not ever lord Hector. I'll never leave my post as your guard." Oswin said. He sounded as if nothing will change his judgment. "I ditto that lord Eliwood." Marcus said, also in a strong willed tone. "And you never know, I might even find a suitable wife for you on this place." The old paladin teased. "Marcus!"

"So, you are going for a walk, eh?" Fargus said. "Yeah, gather some information about this place. We'll be here for a while and I, as a lord, must keep up with the news for my men." Eliwood explained to the berserker. "Alright lad, have fun taking a 'walk.'" The captain said and gave out a laugh. Eliwood smiled back and left the boat with his friend and two faithful knights.


	2. Battle in the Arena

Since people asked, I want to say that the time period for Hector is the returning journey from the Dreaded Isle. For Ephraim, its right after chapter 17 in Sacred Stones, the chapter where you get Syrene, so you practically have all the units now on both sides. Renault won't be making an entry because he disappeared right after the dragon (according to the Epilogue). And I think I said this before, Ephraim's here to restock.

**Battle in the Arena**

**Karel and Karla's story**

"Welcome to the arena sir. Who would you like to bet on? The list of contestants is on the right." The arena's manager said to Karel as he approached his desk. "I would like to bet on the Sword Demon." Karel said icily. "Sword demon, sword, demon……Sorry sir, but there is no contestant with the name of Sword Demon." The manager said. "Then add me as the contestant 'Sword Demon.' And you see her over there?" Karel said as he pointed at her younger sister for the gambler to see. "Add her too." "Name for the fair lady?" the manager asked. "Put her in as Sword Princess" Karel replied. "Right. There you are. Your battle will be with Joshua the Tempest. Good luck."

Karel walked back to her sister, drew his sword and started stretching and swung some blows at empty space. "Brother? What are you doing?" Karla asked with a essence of worry at her face. "Nothing. Just warming up." He replied with a smile. "Don't tell me you signed up for the arena battle!" Karla said. Tear welled in her eyes. "You said we won't fight with our sword ever after we are through with the dark druid." "Yes, I did promise that. But, we aren't through with the marquesses' service. And you should start getting warmed up too. I signed you in also." Karel said as he swung his last warm up and headed for the stadium entrance. "So, who are you fighting?" Karla asked as she drew her sword to practice. "Some swordsman by the name of Joshua." Karel said. "And who am I versing?" Karla asked her brother. "I don't know. I forgot to ask." Karel replied and disappeared out of her sight. Karla grumbled something and started warming up.

"Prince Joshua, why did you enter yourself in the arena? What if you get injured? What if you die? Who will take care of Jehanna then?" Natasha said. Her voice was full of worry. "Don't worry Natasha. Lady Luck will be by my side today." Joshua said and gave the worried Bishop a smile that made her worried even more. "Just watch me from the audiences' seat and cheer for me." He finished and ran towards the stadium.

Joshua stepped out of the dark waiting room and went out to the open field of the stadium. "This is it!" the sword wielding prince thought. In front of him was a tall man. His hair was long and red. He was dressed in black robe, specially designed for sword users. He glared straight into Joshua's eyes but showed no feelings. No mercy, pity, sorrow, nor happiness.

Joshua made the first strike. He held his killing edge up high and dashed toward the experienced swordsman. Karel reacted swiftly. He jumped up in lightning speed, drew his Wo Dao and went for a down thrust. "Perfect," Joshua thought. He was hoping his opponent to dodge and then his fast feet can change direction and lounge at his defenseless victim, but today was not the same. As Joshua leaped to clash with the Sword Demon, Karel used an old swordsmaster's trick, Self Division. It allowed the user to trick his or her opponent visually by creating mirage copies of the user and strike at any angle, usually the armorless point of the opponent to inflict maximum damage.

As Karel used his trick, Joshua panicked to attack, for if he swings at a false enemy, he'll be open for an attack. He closed his eyes, put forward his sword, and pray that Lady Luck will be with him. Joshua swung with all his might but hit only air. This was Karel's big chance to take out his opponent in one blow, and so he did. Karel landed on both his feet, jumped instantly and slashed while twisting around in mid-air, a maneuver learned from his pupil Guy while teaching Guy how to sword fight like a real killer.

The Wo Dao slashed across Joshua's back, and the wounded myrmidon screamed in pain. Karel was appraised by the crowded while Joshua suffered from blinding pain in his back. Natasha rushed toward him and casted a healing magic from her staff. The wound disappeared, leaving a big scar on Joshua's back but he still shivered from the shock. Natasha supported Joshua on her shoulder and walked back to his camp with the rest of Renais' army. Karel took his winnings and bided his sister good luck. She also took out a mage knight that wielded Fimbulvetr with a quick slash from her Wo Dao. The two siblings visited the arena often, winning battle after battle until the ship was fixed. The word got out that the two swordmasters were from the broken down pirate ship. No one from arena dared to go near the pirate ship because of the Sword Demon and the Sword Princess.


	3. A talk in the Inn

Yeah, this story is about Lowen and Sain. I know everyone is waiting to go bursting into laughter but sorry this one is a serious one. (Not even I know why I wrote something so quiet with Sain and Lowen) Anyway, I wrote more about Sain because he does not get the attention he should in the game. No one loves Sain……. And Lowen, he's considered as 'just a knight' in the army. Always left out. Maybe in this story, they can take the spot light.

**A Talk in the Inn**

**Sain and Lowen's story**

"Hey Sain! Wait up!" yelled a yellow armored paladin with long emerald green hair that covered his eyes. Sain, the green armored knight who boasts in his lancing skills and flitting skills to match, turned around and waited for his comrade to catch up. "You, Lowen, is it? Stop following me, and mind your own business" Sain said sharply. "What business? I have nothing to do, just like you. Kent told me you would most likely be looking for girls and just decided to follow you." Lowen said. "So, there is another person in this army who is interested in what I'm doing?" Sain thought. "……and have something to eat. What do you say Sain? Do you want to come?" Lowen asked. Sain had no idea what Lowen said while he was thinking and just nodded dumbly. Lowen brought Sain to a near by inn and bought himself and his newly made friend some lunch. Sain wasn't hungry. Well, not exactly for food. He wanted someone to love. Kent had Fiora, Lady Lyndis had Rath, and even Guy (the worst flitter around) had some affection from Priscilla. He looked at his reflection on the soup that came with his lunch and then at Lowen. He sighed and poked at mashed potato with his fork. Lowen noticed Sain's lack of appetite for the day and requested for Sain's share of food, which the Green Lance gave up without resistance.

Sain sat on his chair absent-mindedly, waiting for Lowen to finish eating. He looked at the inn's main entrance and found someone that raised his old spirit again. There stood a clergy type mage, dressed in white dress that only came to her thigh. Her long yellow-green hair was rolled up in a bun at the back of her head. Her eyes glittered with innocence and purity. Her face was bright with a never ending smile and joy. But accompanying her was a dull and forceful looking berserker with dark green hair and beard. He wore thick orange armor and a battle axe strapped to his side. The two didn't look like couples but the berserker definitely looked like he was willing to protect the girl at all cost. Especially from people like Sain. But Sain wasn't about to back. Of course not, he's a hero. Right?

Sain got up from the seat and approached the table where the cleric and the berserker occupied. He cleared his throat, sat down on a chair next to the lady and said, "Good day to lady. May I have the honor and buy you and your friend here a drink?" The girl looked surprised at this knight's sudden offer but the axe wielder's face didn't flinch. "Su….sure. Tha….thank you. Your name is?" the girl said hesitating before every word. "My name is Sir Sain, the Green Lance of Caelin." Sain said proudly, "And you, beautiful lady?" "Oh, my name is L'Arachel of Rausten. And this is my royal body guard, Dozla.," L'Arachel blushed at Sain's flatter and as she introduced Dozla, he did a small vow. "Rausten. Never heard of this place before. Where is this Rausten?" Sain asked. "Young lad, you have not heard of the second richest kingdom of Magvel? Shame upon you." The huge berserker and gave a grunt. "And where is Caelin, young lad? I've never heard of a placed called so in my long life." "Oh, to get to Caelin, you must cross the seas from Magvel. Pretty far. I and my comrades came here through Cpt. Fargus' ship. Its on the dock around here, getting repaired." Sain explained to the two. "Comrades? You mean you guys are mercenaries?" Dozla said with interest. "Yeah. There are about forty of us. All bound to our lords." Sain said. "I see." Dozla said. The two nodded and seemed to be doing a lot of think. "Well, I must go now. If you need me, Lady L'Arachel, expect me to be on the boat from now on." He told the clergy mage and turned to his knight friend. "Yo, Lowen! Let's go now. Maybe we can give Fargus a hand." The yellow armored knight hurried from his seat and ran as fast as his legs can carry him to catch up to Sain. As he came to Sain he said, "Sain, next time we come out of the ship, remember two things: second lunch and horse." The two knights walked back to their ship. The bond of friendship grew between the Green Lance and the Swift Knight.


	4. Harbor's Gambling Scandal

Since people started wondering what the lords are doing, I could only say wait for it, because I'm going to write about them the last.

**Harbor's Greatest Gambling Scandal**

**Guy and Matthew's story**

"Hey Guy! This way!" Matthew said while panting. The poor myrmidon followed his friend through the small alley. Behind the two followed few fighters and a warrior. "I'll try to hold them back. You run with the money!" Guy yelled and tossed a bag of gold to his swift friend. Guy drew his killing edge, turn around and dashed toward the fighters. Although Guy's actions were spontaneous, the axe wielding men were already ready for this. The fighters halted, drew their hatchets and hurl them at once to the running myrmidon. Guy's eyes widened at the sight of the numerous axes coming straight at him, ready to cut him to pieces. Guy quickly gave up strength on his legs and let himself slide. All he had to do was block a single hatchet and lounge again. So he blocked the oncoming hatchet and stood back on his legs. But the warrior, behind all the fighters, aimed a bow at him. The silver bow was pointing straight a Guy's left leg. The warrior let go of the string which made a 'twang' sound and launched the arrow in a forceful speed. At a nick of time, Guy let himself drop again. He somersaulted away from the angry mob and ran towards where his assassin friend took off to. His head was filled with the thought of not trusting Matthew from the beginning….

"Come on Guy! You're the only one who can help me." Matthew said to Guy. "No, I don't trust you." Guy said and looked away. Matthew quickly moved to where Guy faced. "Come on! Why not? I said I'll even write a contract for it. You know I'd keep my words." Matthew pleaded to Guy. Matthew had the about-to-cry face on. Guy couldn't resist a request with that face on, no matter what gender. As a sacaean warrior, he couldn't just look away from a helpless person. But Matthew, he over used that look.

"Alright! I'll help you. So what am I supposed to do?" Guy said finally. Smile casted upon Matthew's face and said, "It's simple. You just play look out while I do some gambling with these 'gentlemen' on the harbor." Matthew said slyly. "And I'll make sure we share 50-50 on the winnings." So Guy guarded a warehouse entrance that Matthew went into. "Sigh. What did I get myself into this time?" Guy said to himself and thought about how to win Priscilla's heart with out being cut to ground meat by Raven. Then, Matthew suddenly leaped out of the door. He was holding few bags of money. He handed a bag to Guy and grabbed Guy's arm with his spare hand. "Run you myrmidon!" Matthew yelled as he tugged at Guy. Guy, still trying to figure out what's going on, got back on his rightful balance and started following Matthew in a quick pace. "Matthew! What going on! Why are we running?" Guy asked while trying to catch up to the nimble spy. "Those guys and I were just having a fair game of poker. And I got accused of having some cards under my cloak. Long story," Matthew replied shortly. "Don't tell me you got caught cheating in poker!" Guy yelled furiously at his friend. Behind the two followed the angry crowd of gamblers. "Hey Guy! This way!" Matthew said while panting….

"Dead end! Then where is Matthew?" Guy said. He panicked at the sight of a huge wall stopping his path. "grab the rope Guy!" a voice said from above. It sounded like Matthew. So he obeyed and climbed the rope to the roof. When he got to the top, the quick assassin rolled up the rope so no one may use it against the two. "How in the world did you get up here?" Guy asked while trying to catch his breath. "Thief skill 101. We could jump on walls. Two parallel walls like the one over there, perfect for quick getaway." Matthew explained to Guy. "You got to teach ME that some day. I'll need to know everything I can to become a great swordsman." Guy said in his proud voice. "Sure, I'll teach you to pick pocket while you are at it." Matthew teased the Sacaen. The two jumped around the roof top, looking for a safe place to land on and spent the night in a warm quiet room with their so called "hard earned" money.

Back at the warehouse……

"Colm, this is the place I'm talking about." said Rennac as he entered the warehouse. But when he entered the gambling site, he saw that no one was in the warehouse, except his former partner rogue. "What happened to this place?" Rennac asked his old friend. "We all got robbed. The rest of the fellows went home but I wanted to stay and wait for you. So you won't be wandering in the dark hours." said the rouge. "Thank you, dear friend. Tell me, who doing was this? Who dared rob men at our gambling warehouse?" Rennac said. "A assassin and a swordsman, I believe. The rumor says it that the two call themselves Guy and Matthew." answered the rogue friend. "I will report this robbery to Lord Ephraim. And good luck to you friend." Rennac said and left the warehouse with Colm, the blue assassin.

Moral of the chapter: Never trust thieves.


	5. Camping

No matter what you say, I'm still having the lords after all the other units. That's where everything comes together. I'm not having the characters go to random places.

Now a note on this chpt. First encounter with demon king's minion for Eliwood's army. Of course no lords will believe "I found a three headed wolf in the forest that bit my sister." But he'll soon learn to. I was writing this chapter and found out that I left out Rebecca from most of the conversation. (Apologies to readers)

**Camping**

**Dart, Wil, and Rebecca's Story**

Coming up the mountain were two snipers and a berserker. They all carried a bag full of food and items. "Can you tell me again, why we have to go up this mountain?" the berserker complained as he climbed the steep hills of the mountain. "No, but it's for the joy of the exercise and relaxing your mind and body." One of the snipers said. He wore blue clothing and a blue bow, made for traveling and hunting so it wasn't as big as the usual battle bow. "I don't feel much relaxed right now," Dart said and wiped the sweat of his face. Rebecca let out a girly giggle and fastened her pace. "Dart, you changed so much over the years. You used to love camping." Rebecca said. "Well, I couldn't find a good mountain to climb in my spare time sailing with Fargus." Dart defended himself. "Whatever. At least you find excuses like Dan." Wil said and followed Rebecca. Rebecca let out another giggle.

"Come on guys, slow down!" Dart said. He started running toward the two snipers but tripped over a loose tree root and tripped. The two watched the pirate fall and expected him to get on his feet again but he didn't. "Er, do you think he past out?" Wil said bluntly. "Oh, I hope not. Dart!" Rebecca said worried and ran back to her regained brother. Wil also followed Rebecca and quickly took out a bottle of elixir. "Turn him over so I can feed him some of this." Wil said. The girl obeyed and saw Dart smiling at the two of them. "I got you! I can't believe the trick worked!" said Dart, laughing. At sight of this, both of the snipers punched the pirate's stomach.

"So how's the dinner?" Wil asked. He was eating his own share of the wild deer he shot in the woods. "It's alright. I can't believe you would kill that poor deer." Dart said in a teasing voice. "Like how you cut that poor mage's throat that was guarding the side entrance, right?" Wil said. He wasn't going to lose to his old friend in an argument. "Hey, that's different! That mage came up to me casting Elfire everywhere. I think he could've taken the whole Black Fang army down by himself if I didn't stop him." Dart said. "So 'Dark', you killed that 'poor little mage' to save some black fang's rogues?" Wil said as he smiled. It was a smile of victory. Victory over their little conversation. Wil knew Dart couldn't keep his cools if he called Dart "Dark." Dart took out his water bottle and opened it, only to find it empty. He frowned in disappointment. "Here, you can have mine." Dart's little sister, Rebecca handed him her bottle of water and took Dart's bottle. "I'll go get some water. There is a stream somewhere around here." "Can you get me some, while you are at it?" Wil said, handing her his empty bottle after finishing it. "And I'll go look for some more firewood." Wil said as he stood up. The two snipers left Dart into the woods. The pirate watched them go and started devouring his portion of food.

Dart had his food half way down the throat when he choked by the sound of two screams. A male and a female, Wil and Rebecca. Dart emptied the bottle of water he got from his sister and relieved himself from the stationary food in his throat. His mind struggled to choose from the choices given to him: save Rebecca or save Wil. His mind made a quick decision, go for Rebecca. Dart wished Wil all the luck possible and ran towards the stream.

Rebecca stood on the bank of the stream, paralyzed by fear. In front of her were wolfish looking creatures. And in the middle, was a three-headed wolf. They growled furiously and barked at her. It was only a matter of time before one of the animals jumped at her, and cut her to shreds. She slowly reached for her pink bow and an arrow from her quiver. All she thought in her head was "No sudden movements." But Dart helped her with that. The pirate jumped out of the woods with his axes drawn. Immediately, the wolfish animals leaped towards Dart, but the three headed one went towards Rebecca. Rebecca wasted no second and placed the arrow on the sting. She pulled and shot the arrow. But the beast's quick reflexes allowed him to dodge her launched arrow. The three headed wolf landed on its four legs and leaped to attack Rebecca once again. She knew it was too late for her to fire another arrow, so she helplessly put up her bow, hoping with little faith that it might block the angry beast from its vicious attack.

As the feral beast came in contact with Rebecca, one of its head bit her on her bow arm, two arrows flew from her left and struck the wolf on its ribs. The animal flinched, and let its jaws loose from Rebecca's arm. It turned and faced to see what in this whole forest would dare shoot an arrow into it. From where the arrow came flying stood Wil. His short hunting bow pointed straight at Rebecca's attacker. On the string of the bow were three arrows. The wolf stepped into a dash Wil fired his three arrows at once. Not even the beast's great reflexes could have gotten it out of Wil's triple shot that has been aimed so well. Two arrows struck the wolf's two front legs and one struck one of its head. The wolf fell and tumbled. "Loser," Wil shouted at his fallen victim with a smile, and turned his back to race to Rebecca. Little did he know, the other two heads of the monster were still alive. It kicked it's hind legs to avenge it's body mate. "Wil! Behind you!" Rebecca yelled as she pointed at the jumping monster. Wil felt a chill run down his spine. He had let his guard down. He turned and swung his bow to whatever was behind him, and he succeeded in hitting it. "Ow! What was that for?" said Dart. Behind Wil was Dart, who has saved his best friend from the fangs of the three headed wolf, with his two axes on the floor and holding his head where Wil bow struck his head. "Geez Wil! I save you from that monster and you repay me by giving me a blinding headache with your bow?" Dart yelled, still holding his head. "Oops, I didn't see you there. I thought you were that thing over there." Wil said and he ran his fingers through his hair. "Over confident as always, huh? Just like that time when you thought you had that crazy druid with the Luna." Dart criticized Wil but Wil wasn't listening. He walked over to Rebecca. "How's your arm?" Wil asked as he examined the girl's bitten arm. "It's alright, just sting when I'm trying to move it." Rebecca replied. Wil nodded and took out a vial of transparent blue liquid. Here's some elixir. Drink it. Wil handed the vial to Rebecca, and she gulped a mouth full of the liquid.

Wil searched his back and took out a roll of cloth. He ripped some and covered Rebecca's would to prevent further infection and to speed up recovery. Wil stood up and said to Dart "Hey Dart! I don't think Rebecca can go on anymore. You want to head down back to the harbor?" "Yeah, why not. Camping isn't really my thing, especially in a wood full of distorted wolfs that are willing to bite my sister." Dart said, poking at the dead corpses of the wolfs with his axe. Suddenly, Rebecca bursted into tears. "I'm so sorry. If I kepted my mouth shut, this wouldn't have all happened. I'm always a burden to you two." Rebecca said. "Hey, hey. It's not your fault. If you didn't scream, who would have thought of coming to rescue you?" Dart tried to comfort her. "I would have went to go check on Wil." There was a moment of silnce. Only thing that could've been heard was the cry of Rebecca. She began to calm down when Dart blurted out, "By the way, why did you scream Wil?" "Oh, that. Remember I was going to get some fire wood? A squirrel jumped on my head while I was picking up a twig and I thought it was a ghost or something." Wil said. Rebecca giggled. She wiped her tears off her face with the back of her hand and Dart gave his old pal an "Are-You-Out-Of-Your-Mind?" face. So Wil added something to his sentence that sounded a lot like "I'm serious!" "Whatever Wil. I'll remember to take you camping again sometime. And of course with you Rebecca." Dart said, smiling at both of them.

The next day, the three campers packed up and headed down the mountain. Their feet were light that day and reached their ship by evening, where they told their lords about the incident in the woods and got Lucius to properly heal Rebecca.


	6. Heroes of Both Sides

So I do have an excuse for my late entry of work. Too much work outside of computer, I also try to read all of the support conversations (which took time finding, and reading them until I got it soaked in my head). And I went over some Fanfictions to see how I can improve. I've learned one thing:

For Disclaimers: I do not own anything. I'm a 15 year old kid who has a lot of spare time.

And this story isn't the best I've came up with. For one thing, Gerik isn't as formal as I wrote him to be. And a lot of this I wrote in this chapter didn't make sence. As I read over it twice.

**Heroes of Both Sides**

**Harken and Isadora's Story**

"That place has some nice cooks, don't you think Isadora?" Harken said as he walked out of the restaurant with Isadora. The couple had just finished their meal in one of the harbor's best restaurant and now headed for a inn to stay in until their ship was fixed. The lady paladin, Isadora, nodded in agreement and walked by her love's side. It was late, most workers were home, sleeping. It was also the time when thieves, stalkers, assassins, and bandits worked at. Around the hour when the gambling warehouse got robbed. Around the time when two archers and a pirate got attacked by a group of Demon King's minions. Harken, the troubled warrior, and Isadora, the Escort of Phaerae were walking in an alley, a short cut to the inn they were heading toward, when they saw a couple, just like them, in distress. A bright pink haired girl, looked like a myrmidon by the way she dressed and a guy in armor and a huge shield on his back, like Harken himself.

The young couple was surrounded by a band of bandits. "-so just hand over the money and we'll be gone." Finished one of the bandits by the time Harken and Isadora arrived at the scene. "You cowards! Two on fifteen is most definitely out of order!" Harken, the brave knight, scolded the outlaws. "I will take on any of you before you land blows on those two!" And Harken drew his sword and his shield and got into his fighter's stance. "Sir, I'm wishing you would leave us with this. We can take care of ourselves. These bandits mean no harm to us." The hero said behind the men. "No! Leave these unchivalrous men to me!" At the sound of Harken's powerful voice, the bandits backed in fear. One foolish bandit lounged towards the ready knight with his axe up. Harken blocked it with his shield and swiftly kicked the bandit in the stomach. The axe wielder was forced to move back by the kick, giving Harken enough time to take the breath out of his opponent.

"Whose next?" Harken said. His voice was cold as ice that gave chill to the remaining band of bandits. Harken gave a sharp glare and held up his sword. "Leave now if you want to see another light of day, you outlaws." Harken gave the final warning. At this, the bandits' had nothing to lose. One on fourteen wasn't a bad number. And how dare this knight mock them at their scene of crime? The whole band turn to Harken and dashed while drawing their weapons. Harken only smirked as if he had been waiting for them to jump at him. "Here's something I learned as a black fang!" Harken yelled. He put away his sword and grabbed his shield with both hands. And abruptedly, hurled it at the men running to strike at him. "Shield boomerang!"

Harken's shield returned to him. It was smothered in blood. The blood of the knight's fallen foes. From the back, the pink haired myrmidon and her hero friend only watched in amaze as this man took out a hold group of thieves by himself. Isadora, who has been watching the whole time but with her lance out, drew closer to him and handed the knight a hankerchief. "Harken, don't forget. You are still a knight. Wipe your weapon after a battle. Always." She said. "Of course. How can I forget?" Harken answered back and smiled. Then he turned to the half frightened couple he have just rescued from the bandits. The two flinched before Harken even said anything. Harken also gave them a hearty smile. "You kids alright?" Harken asked. The two looked offended by Harken calling them kids but they didn't have the heart to talk back to an unknown knight that took out fifteen men with one blow.

Gerik opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out of it. Harken gave out a friendly laugh. "Alright, I'll introduce myself first." Said Harken. He has taken their lack of communication for shyness. "I'm Harken, a knight of Phaerae and this is Isadora, also a knight of Phaerae." The knot in Gerik's tongue finally smoothened and allowed him to speak before the mighty knight. "I'm Gerik, a mercenary. And this is Marisa. She's also a mercenary at my rank." Gerik introduced himself and his comrade. Marisa gave a small bow that made Isadora bend also.

The four warriors entered an inn and sat down to talk. Isadora brought warm cups of rum for everyone. "So, how did you get into that mess." Harken asked Gerik and Marisa. "Well, our story starts in our camp……"

_It was a cool, breezy morning. The sun was making it's way up. Gerik and Marisa got up for their usual morning jogs. "Where's Ewan? Didn't he say he wanted to exercise with us?" Gerik asked Marisa. "Let the kid sleep. He must be tired after the long journey." Marisa replied. The two were ready to leave when they heard someone come out of the tent. The two turned only to find their group leader, Ephraim, coming out of his tent. "You there, Gerik right?" Ephraim called to the mercenary. "Yes my lord. Need anything?" Gerik replied formally and politely. "Whoa, whoa. Don't be so formal around here. Just call me Ephraim." The prince of Renais said at his mercenary's sudden act of formality. "Yes, Prince Ephraim. As you command." Gerik said with a bow. Ephraim gave a glare. Anyway, I had a report on few robbery at the harbor from Rennac. I thought someone at your rank be the best for this mission. So, will you go and track these thieves down?" Ephraim asked the former guild master. "Of course my lord." Gerik said. Ephraim flinched at the word "my lord." "Alright. According to Rennac, you two are af-" "Us two?" Gerik interrupted Ephraim. "Yes, I thought Marisa would've be with you in this." Ephraim replied. "Oh, of course Prince Ephraim." Gerik said with his head looking at his boots. Gerik's formality really ticked Ephraim's nerves, but it was better than his knight, Forde's attitude towards him. "As I was saying. You two are after an assassin and a swordsman. One's name is Matthew and the other's name is Guy. _Harken and Isadora's eyes widened at the sound of the names. "The Ostian spy and the Sacaen swordsman? It couldn't be them. It just couldn't. They must have been some other Matthew and Guy. Hopefully the rest of the descriptions won't match." Harken thought. _"The swordsman is said to be in aqua green swordmaster's robe with matching hair, eyes, and headband. The assassin was in a red cloak, has dark blonde hair, leaf green sleeveless shirt and white pants." Ephraim explained. Gerik nodded and headed over to Marisa and explained his situation._

"This is trouble. If This Ephraim guy's army is as big as Gerik says so, we might be in for a big fight." Harken thought. He also saw the same fear in Isadora's face. "So, do you know anything about those two? I highly doubt someone as honorable as you being anyway related to those thieves but it wouldn't hurt to ask." Gerik asked and took a sip of the rum. Harken's mind struggled to do the right thing, but he couldn't figure out which was the right thing. Tell the truth or lie. As a knight he couldn't lie. "Actually Gerik, I do know them and-" Harken only began to talk when Gerik suddenly stood up, drew his weapon, and pointed it directly at the sitting knight. "You foul being! How can someone at your standards be associated with those burglars!" Gerik roared in rage. How could have this man, someone who he have look up to for the part hour, be the one he and his former guildsman was looking for? "Gerik! Do calm down. You are making a scene in a public inn." Harken scolded but in a quiet manner. "Look Gerik. I do know those troublemakers, but I'm not related in their plan. Actually, I haven't heard from them after we left the boat." The Desert Tiger lowered his sword. It was pointing at the knight but not directly. "Look, Gerik. I'm also as chivalrous as you are. I'll have a talk with Guy and Matthew and try to get the money back, if they haven't used it all. I swear upon my sword and my crest." Harken said. A knight's swear upon his sword and crest was considered one of the highest type of promise. Gerik, even though he was a mercenary, learned enough through his career to know at least this much. "Alright. But I'll have to report the ship to Prince Ephraim." Gerik said and left the inn. Marisa followed him out to the dark night. "I guess we should go back to the ship." Isadora said and sighed. "And when we do, I'll take care of those two youngsters myself." Harken said, patting his scabbard.

The night drew darker and the two knights headed back to their two marquesses. Harken knew exactly what to tell Eliwood. But he wasn't sure if it was the best thing to say at the time being. All he could do was wish for all this trouble to end well, for both sides.


	7. Bull in a Library

For disclaimer: I don't own anything.

For readers: Hehe, my favorite two characters from FE rekka no ken. Canas and Erk. If you are wondering about how Erk gets to use Forblaze, he actually doesn't, he kind of gets there but he's magic has limits and doesn't. So don't say I made Erk look to good.

**Bull in a Library**

**Canas, Erk, and Helen's Story**

It was broad day, the weather was fine, and the sea was calm. Three magicians walked through the crowded streets of the harbor, trying to reach the library. "Come on lady Helen, we don't want to lose you in the crowd." Erk tugged the tactician's arm towards the way he was headed. Behind her followed Canas, a druid who the descendant of the hermit. "Oh, but pull me too fast. I might trip over someone. And please be at ease when you talk to me." Helen said as she chased the young sage who couldn't wait to get to the library. From behind, the druid pursued as fast as his feet carried him. "Wait up for me you two!"

They finally made it to the harbor's biggest library. "How….do….you Canas said, taking a deep breath after each word. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot about you. Here, have a drink." Helen said and gave the druid her share of water. "Sorry, but I do forget. What are we here to research again?" Canas asked, his repiration returned to normal pace. "Some legendary magic tombs we got after our last battle. Two from Athos; Forblaze and aureola. And an Excalibur, a Gespenste, and a Luce. And we got them right here in our bag." Erk said as he patted his bag full of tombs. As Erk reached for the door a girl bumped into him, causing him to fall on his rear end. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" Erk said to the girl. She had short purple hair and dressed like a mage. She gave him a sharp look and rushed into the library. "Some manners she has." Erk muttered. "Erk, are you alright?" Helen said, helping him get back to his feet. "No need to stay out here when there are readings to be done." Canas said and entered the building. "I guess he's right. Let's go Helen." Said Erk, and the two followed the druid into the library.

"Any luck Helen?" Erk asked from the other side of the shelf. "Nothing." The tactician replied. "And you?" Erk said to Canas. "Nothing that we are looking for." Canas answered. "Can we ask the librarian now, Erk?" Helen asked. "Alright, but this will be the only time we do." Erk replied. Erk had a thing for asking directions or for help. He didn't like asking for help with his studies unless it was his teacher, lord Pent.

The tactician walked over to the librarian who was fix some books left on a shelf. "Um, excuse me, can you tell me where I can find books about Ancient Magic Tombs?" Helen asked politely to the librarian. The kind librarian led the tactician towards a section in the library with old dusty scrolls and the two scholars followed. "Here are everything in this library about Tombs and Weapons. I hope that helped." The librarian gave Helen a smile and walked away. The former mage smiled back and went back to her searching. Erk and Canas joined in and looked for books about their ancient Tombs. "So Erk, this wasn't so bad. I hope this-""Found it! Right here." Erk interrupted Helen's playful lecture on how Erk should learn to ask for help.

The three stared at the page for sometime until Erk suddenly said, "This can't be right!" Canas and Helen nodded. "Yes, Erk has a point. It says here that our Excalibur has been on this continent all it's life and still in the castle of Jehanna. Where ever that is." Canas said. "And here, it says there is only one copy of this tomb in the world. But rest of the description fits. How it is castes, how the magic is shaped, formed, then attacks." Canas finished, then a girl with purple hair, dressed in a magician's clothes appeared from the section behind where the three scholars were reading. "Will you three keep it down in the library? Me and my friend can't concentrate. But what can I expect from a low leveled trio of mages." The girl said. She just hit Erk's sensitive spot; no one made a fool out of him except lord Pent. "Low leveled! I'll show you whose low leveled!" Erk said. His tone was ice cold, his magic was focused, and he reached out for his Fimbulvetr which the tactician swiftly took it way from the sage's reach. The purple haired girl knew exactly how to react. She went back to where she was studying and got her tomb, following her was a young clergy with orange hair. "Lute, what are you doing? Come-. Oh, hello there." The bishop greeted but Erk replied it with a sharp glare. "Do you know her?" Erk asked, pointing at Lute. "Um, kind of. She's my friend and-." "Good, take her and get out of my sight." Erk cut the young bishop off.

At that point, Lute snapped also. "Don't talk to my friend like that you elementary magician!" Lute yelled at Erk. "Hey Lute, calm down-""I'll do as I please with out some stuck up kid telling me what to do or not!" Erk yelled back and interrupted the bishop again. "Erk, keep your voice down. We're still in a library." Canas said but Erk didn't here him. "Oh yeah? If I'm just a little kid, why don't you challenge me in a duel? Or are you too afraid to lose to a prodigy like myself?" Lute challenged the mage. "Those were the word I've been waiting for. You're on!" Erk said and grabbed a Fimbulvetr tomb from Helen and walked out of the library. Following him was Lute, with an Elfire tomb in her hand.

The tactician quickly ran up to her friend and tried to persuade him. "Erk, please don't do this. You have nothing to prove to this two." "That girl just defiled lord Pent's name. I'll not just sit and watch it happen. Not after what he has done for me." Erk said, and it sounded like the end of his decision. "Ready to lose?" Lute said. Erk cleared his mind of all other outer things and started chanting his magic. The two purple haired mages were evenly matched. Lute's casting was much quicker but Erk conjured his Fimbulvetre just in time to block the Elfire and send his whirlwind straight at Lute. Lute moved quickly and dodged Erk's attack at a nick of time. "Not bad for a foreigner." Lute said. "I was about to say the same thing, islander." Erk quickly replied to Lute's remark. "Allow me to show you the full potential of a Prodigy." Lute said and started to chant her magic and Erk followed. "Excalibur!" Both of the mages executed at the same time. At the sound of their cry, the wind shifted. The wind started to shape into a curved blade. It shined green from its edges. And the two blade like magic lounged toward each other, canceling themselves out to mere breeze. The two mages were out of options. Their best magic has been equally matched. Lute waited for Erk to make the next move, and she would follow.

"This girl is good. Other magic won't work on her if Excalibur hasn't. Unless…." Erk thought. He took out a bright red tomb from his bag and focused all his magic. "Hopefully this magic will work." Erk continued to extract his magic. Lute watched in confusion for this boy from some other continent was using a magic she have never seen before. "Forblaze!" Erk yelled. Both Canas and Helen were surprised at Erk's choice of magic. "Erk stop!" the druid said, trying to stop the sage from severely harming Lute. The attempt was useless, it was too late. The atmosphere around them turned hot and dry. The dust started to rise up. The floor under Lute began to grow immensely hot; it was time for Forblaze's climax. The tactician and the druid had only little time if they wanted to save the mage girl. Helen quickly took out a barrier staff and coated Canas in a magic shield. Canas ran towards Lute with a tomb in his hand and stood infront of Lute and began to chant. "Gespenst!" the Druid yelled. The sky turned dark and the air became thick. At normal casting of this magic, there should've been an offensive part to this but Canas's magic was dispelled by Erk's Forblaze. The air started to soften and the clouds moved away. Forblaze and Gespenst cushioned each other. The sky cleared and the quarrel was stopped, kind of.

"Whew. I thought I wouldn't make it in time." Canas said, collapsing to his knees. Erk staggered toward Canas and collapsed also on his arms. But it wasn't a fall of exhaustion, it looked like pain. "Oh, you can't be serious. Not again." Canas muttered and got back on his feet. He ran towards the fallen sage and chanted a magic transfer. "Erk, I must tell, stop pushing your limits like that. You probably got magic transferred from every mages in our army." Canas said to Erk and glanced at the tactician. "Especially a lot from her and lord Pent." Erk gave off a grin and finally stood back on his feet.

On the other side, Lute sat on her knees, staring blankly into the streets. "Such power…not even I was able to defeat him. But the others were equally good. Maybe I'm not a-""Hey Lute! Are you alright?" Artur called from behind and cut off Lute's thought. Lute turn and faced her friend. She finally opened her mouth and said, "Artur? Did you see those three? They were…amazing. Maybe even better than me." "Lute I-"Artur tried to comfort his friend but the sage had more to say. "Maybe they are better than me. Maybe I'm not a prodigy. I should ask for their assistance in my studies, so one day I can beat them." Lute said and looked up. The sage, the druid, and the tactician have disappeared from their spot.

In the end, there were no winner or loser, but Erk and Lute learned something that day. Something that will guide them throughout their lives. And the other three, they've learned not to get on the sages' nerves.

Moral of the Chapter: Don't mess with nerds.


	8. Just a Flashback

For disclaimers: I don't own anything. I'm a sophomore at Dozo high with hunger to right.

And for readers: I know I'm late. Tell it to my teachers and my guidance counselor for putting me in all honors. (Trust me there is nothing good about being in a class full of nerds like me) So if you want rapid speed of work being done, wait for summer to come in New York. To get back on topic, this is a Flashback on my Tactician's life. How she got led to Lyn and how Erk and the tactician is related and some character bio on her. Enjoy.

**Just a Little Flashback**

**Helen's past story**

It was finally the day, the day of graduation. This was the time for young training mages to be chosen by their teachers and be taught one on one. Some of the kids were nervous, and some were excited. These times are always special for young mages but this year was especially tense, lord Pent, the one who holds the title Living Legend, was looking to find an apprentice to pass on his knowledge of magic to a student in the Arcane Institution of Magic.

Erk was excited to get a new master and have a step further in the knowledge of magic. He was hoping to become a sage's apprentice. Helen, Erk's best friend in the academy, wasn't so sure of her future. She was nervous and scared of the choosing. She wanted to be with Erk but deep inside her, she knew she'll be separated with her friend. She wasn't as good with her nature magic as Erk was. The only thing she was skilled at was healing, and only clergies' in training were allowed to master heal at her age, she have chosen to be a mage. And even if she was as good as Erk, the teachers only chose one apprentice at a time. All these idle thoughts only made Helen nervous and uneasy. Then the bell rang.

The time came for testing. According to the school rules, each student must take a written two written tests and three active tests. The two written test tested the student on their knowledge (the first test) and to see their judgments and what they consider moral to see which type of magic suits them the best (the second test). The active test checks for the three main division of magic: Ancient, Nature, and Holy (males are only allowed to use offensive holy magic like Lightning and females only supportive like Heal at their young age). The teacher came in with a hand full of scrolls. She handed them out to each student and sat them on their assigned seats. The testing began.

Hours later, the testing was done and results were being given out. Erk checked his paper in a hurry. His scores were shown as followed:

WT: 82/88

PC: Druid

Ancient: 10/30

Anima: 30/30

Holy: 5/30

New Teacher: Pent

Erk couldn't believe his eyes. He, a training mage, just became a student of the legendary sage, Lord Pent. It was his dream come true. With a smile on he looked over to Helen, who was too scared to look into the paper and handed it to Erk. Erk read for her:

WT: 88/88

PC: Valkyrie

Ancient: 5/30

Anima: 24/30

Holy: 25/30

New Teacher: Silver

"Silver? Who's Silver?" Erk asked Helen. The girl only answered back with a shake of a head. Erk thought for a moment and walked up to his former teacher and asked, "Um, Miss Veldra, who is the teacher Silver?" So Erk teacher replied, "She's healer/tactician. A tactician is someone who plans a battle before they march in. It's a very hard and uncommon job. And obviously that's not your teacher so you don't have to worry about it."

The young mage turned and walked back to his friend. Helen was waiting with a worried faced. "We-well?" her voice was trembling in fear. Erk paused to think, to think about how to put this news into words that won't make his friend shed tears. "Well, uh…" Erk couldn't think of anything but the whole truth. "Well, you have a new teacher now and…" Helen nodded at him and stared back, making Erk even more nervous. "…So your new teacher is Silver and she's going to teach you to…well…tactic." Erk finished finally. Helen, however, didn't seem to be taking it in. "Tactic?" She asked. "Mm-hm. Silver is a tactician." Erk replied back and nodded. "But…then…she doesn't teach magic?" Helen asked Erk, tears welled in her eyes again and was just about to flow down her rosy cheeks. Erk was now trying very hard to tell her the truth and to keep her from making a scene. "Well, you'll have to ask that to Miss Silver yourself. I don't know anything about her."

Some appeared behind Helen and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hello Helen." The person said. Erk looked up to see who it was. There stood a lady with bright, long silver hair and her light blue eyes shone with a hint of curiosity and knowledge. Her pink lips bent into a smile that partly comforted her pupil. She looked 20 and was fairly tall for her age. She wore leaf green robe, surrounded by a worn out light brown cloak. She had a huge bag on her side, full of books, maps, and navigation tools. Overall, she looked a lot like Helen besides the hair color. "Hel-hic-lo," the lady startled Helen and the little mage started to hiccup. "I'm Silver and I'll be your new teacher and I hope you finished saying farewell to your handsome friend here. We had to move on." The tactician said while stroking Helen's blue hair. Erk said a quick good bye and left with the Living Legend, Pent, and Helen left with Silver.

The two, Helen and Silver, were on their way to the nearest town to the north because the tactician's shelter was in a mountain range up north. "So Helen, do you having you want to eat?" the silver haired tactician said. Helen replied by shaking her head slowly. "Well hun, you look real down. Is there something wrong?" Silver asked her student. "Well…um…I was thinking and…um…" Helen started to talk but stopped. She was freed from her hiccups by then but she was still nervous around her new teacher. "Go on. You were thinking and…?" "Well, I was thinking if you'll teach me magic along with tactics." The little tactician said and she started to start at the ground as they walked. "If you really want to know, I'll be teaching you some healing magic for emergencies but if you mean anything besides that, I think you have it better than me." Silver replied and smiled back. Her new apprentice sighed and quickened her pace.

The two tacticians found their way to the mountain range. Four and a half years of training passed and Helen was ready to be a full pledged tactician. The two were in a town near Silver's home to buy food and other supplies……

"Every time we come here, you act just like when you were a kid." The silver haired tactician said to her student. Helen only stared back and blushed. However it was true. Every time the two would visit a town full of people, Helen would grab onto her teacher's arm and wouldn't let go. Her shyness around people would've mistaken her for a pegasus knight. And Silver was only delighted by her pupil's innocence. Her student reminded her oh herself. And they resembled a lot in personality and physical appearance.

"Well Helen, let's call it a day." Silver said. Helen nodded back in agreement. The two found an inn and checked themselves in to a warm cozy room. They had soup and a piece of bread for dinner and went to bed. They could only imagine what kind of disaster would bring them down.

It was 3 in the morning when Helen was violently awakened her teacher. "Helen! Wake up! We have to leave now! Get dressed! Quickly! Quickly!" Silver yelled while shaking the sleeping tactician. Helen had no idea of what was going on. The sky was still dark and her teacher was yelling at her. Her teacher never yelled at her, not even at the most frustrating moments. Even at her state of mind, Helen quickly obeyed her teacher's words.

Silver grabbed her by the shoulder and leveled her eyes to Helen's. The two were now face to face. "Helen, I want you to run as fast as possible to the nearest town. Warn them about a raid from mountain bandits. I'll join you later." The teacher said. "Here's a map and a bottle of vulnery." "But. What about you?" Helen asked. She was started to understand the seriousness of the situation. "There are wounded men downstairs. I need to aid them." The tactician said hand took out a healing staff from her bag. "I will assist you." The blue haired tactician stated. "And I believe you haven't had a final test yet I believe." Silver said, ignoring Helen. "This is the final exam. Get to the next village before the bandits do."

They left the inn and ran to the rear gate of the town which wasn't yet overrun by thieves. "Helen, I loved having your company. You were like a daughter to me and I like a mom to you. Now we part here, if we never meet again I just want you to know that I've learned so much from you and I'll always cherish my times with you." As soon as Silver finished her sentence, she ran into the darkness of the night. Helen also did not waste a minute but also didn't hold back her tears. She never reunited with her teacher again.

She traveled in the dark to where the town should be. Her legs felt weak and her eyelids were heavy. She was only a mile or so away from the town the, but it looked as if there was no end to her road. She knew see was there. Few more steps were in her mind when her legs finally gave in. She lost all hope and collapsed. Next to where she lied was a tan colored one-man tent. Helen's story was only beginning……


	9. People of Equal Ranks

For Disclaimers: I do not own any of these characters. Do not get in trouble with Nintendo and do not drag me in if you do.

SpeedDemon315 – Thanks for the comment. I was worried that people won't like the Flashback

Lord of Pastries – Lol. Thanks. I'll try to keep up was much as possible. And I love pastries also. (I wanna be a pastry chef)

Fireemblem rox – I'm sorry if my story seem that way to you. But you have to understand that in my fanfic, Hector went through his entire story already while Ephraim just got all the units that he can. I love Joshua also, but Karel is just way higher level and he does have a reputation also. Guy against Joshua would've been different. I'm sorry if I offended you.

About this chapter: I'm moving at a real slow pace. I'm sorry. This is where they actually fight. Ted Toss64. This is the moment. This chapter might be boring but the next on is filled with action. If all goes according to plan.

**People of Equal Ranks**

**Hector and Eliwood's story**

"For the last time! Oswin! Marcus! We can take care of ourselves!" the Ostian Marquess erupted. The two knights only stared back. This only boiled Hector's blood even more. The blue haired marquess could only take so more that he grabbed his friend and sprinted as fast as his legs would allow him to move. The Armad wielder ran around the harbor with Eliwood for few minutes and stopped to catch his breath.

"Hey Eliwood. breathes Do you think we got rid of them?" Hector asked while taking in air as much as possible. The Marquess of Phaerae couldn't even reply. "Lacking endurance? I do not believe my practices would weaken you so much Lord Hector." Said a deep, elderly voice from behind the two marquesses. There stood Marcus and Oswin grinning at their lords.

"So my young lords, where should we visit first?" Marcus, who was now leading the two young nobles, asked the marquesses. "Well, Merlinus did give us a list of weapons he wanted us to get." Eliwood said, taking out a piece of paper from his bag. "That should mean we are heading for the armory first." Hector said, he's finally caught up with his breath. The blue armored knight shoved everyone that stood in his way until he reached the weapon dealer's house.

"This is outrageous!" Hector yelled at the clerk. "Hector, control yourself." Eliwood said, trying to calm his friend from fighting the store's clerk. "But Eliwood, do you not agree with me? How could such weapons cost so much?" Hector said, still speaking in his outdoor voice. "Aye, I agree with you old friend, but you cannot quarrel every time you find something at dislike. Sometimes you must amend." The red haired marquess explained to his companion. However this did not work as well as he thought it would.

"Sir, I think you are making a scene in the public. I wouldn't mind if you would lower your voice a bit." Said a person standing at the door. He wore a long lance on his back. His emerald green hair went where the wind went. He was armored fairly in a suit with equal color as his hair. Hector stared back at the man. Eliwood would only imagine what his friend was capable of doing at the moment. He only watched helplessly as the axe wielder walked over to the emerald green man. As Hector opened his mouth Eliwood thought of all the horrid words Hector might say to that poor man. "Oh, I'm sorry; I did not mean to cause trouble." This really killed Eliwood. How could his best friend not listen to him and listen to some foreign stranger? "It's alright. Now that you've seem to have calmed down, my name is Ephraim." The spearman said, holding out his right hand. "The name's Hector. This is my buddy Eliwood, and those are my nannies Oswin and Marcus." The blue marquess said and shook Ephraim's hand. Marcus chuckled lightly at Hector's sarcasm. It would cost the marquess 150 pushups for that remark.

"So, why were so upset?" the emerald haired prince asked. "Oh, it is nothing. Just a foolish thought of mine." Hector replied. As the conversation continued, Eliwood, feeling left out, finished the rest of the shopping, knowing the chat could go for hours. "Um, Ephraim, are you done yet?" said a girl walking into the armory. She also had emerald green hair that went down her back. She wore a light upper armor that protected her chest over her red short sleeve shirt. She had a white mini skirt on and long red stockings that covered her legs up to her thighs. She had a fencer's blade with ancient markings on it tied around her waist.

"Oh, just a moment Eirika. This man has some interesting things to share with us." Ephraim said to his little sister. At that point, Eirika sensed it too. This conversation wouldn't end anytime soon. "Brother? Aren't we behind in our schedule already? We can't waste our time here." The girl said, attempting to break up the conversation. Ephraim thought on his sister's words and finally said, "I guess so. It was nice talking to you sir Hector." "Lord." Eliwood muttered. "The pleasure is also mine. And I hope to spar with you one day." Hector said and shook the lancer's hand one more time and departed. The two marquesses returned to their ship and received a lecture from Marcus on how they should lengthen their work out time.

Ephraim and Eirika got back to their camp. Ephraim escorted his younger sister to her tent and head to his own. On the way, Ephraim was stopped by his faithful Gerik and his report. Gerik told his lord everything he knew.

"Those thieves! Those filthy pirates! How dare they set their eyes on our land!" Ephraim exploded. "And to think such a man like Hector could be one of them!" Then he turned to Gerik. "Gerik, go tell the other to get ready for a battle tomorrow. We are setting those pirates straight." Ephraim ordered the mercenary hero. The Desert Tiger obeyed right away. That night, Ephraim thought hard to set up a strategy to bring down Hector's units. Although he lacked in knowledge of his opponent's side, the prince of Renais did his best in equipping his units besides Joshua, the Jehanna's prince who was deeply wounded from combat, and Natasha the healer who volunteered to stay and look after the young prince. "Alright, we strike at midnight." Ephraim gave his final order.

All of Hector's units on Fargus' ship were fast asleep except for a few who stood as guards. It struck midnight, meaning a shift in the guards for the ship. Two knights, one in red and one in green, came out from the ship to change positions with the Falcoknight sisters. At that moment, a fire lit arrow flew from the land and hit the boat. This marked the beginning of the battle in the harbor. Hector was about to get his sparring earlier than he wished.


	10. Arrow Given, Arrow Returned

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Use this fanfic wrong and we both can get sued by Nintendo.

Lord of Pastries: I do prefer Hector's army also, over Ephraim's, (this will most definitely not change any outcome of battle! Lucius was one of my fave TT goes to repent) Maybe because I find Rekka no Ken people easier to draw oO;;

SpeedDemon: If you mean what will happen to Hector, it's kinda clear. Pictures Marcus making Hector and Eliwood do 150 push ups

The next Chapter. But as great as it may sound, I couldn't get my ending of this chapter the way I wanted it. Having so much people say good things about my story kind of pressures me ;;;;

**Arrow Given, Arrow Returned**

**Part 1 of Battle**

**_"_**_Gerik, this is the battle strategy Innez and I came up with. I want you to go and give these people these exact orders" Ephraim said and handed the mercenary a piece of paper. The Desert Tiger followed his lord's orders. Gerik first looked for Neimi, the archer…_

It was midnight and as the knights changed positions with a mercenary and a bishop a arrow flew into the ship. The arrow was precisely aimed to hit its target. The arrow flew straight into the leg of the red armored knight. The red armor collapsed and grabbed his wounded legs and gave out muffled screams in his agony. "Kent!" called the other knight. "Don't just stand there Sain! Get someone!" Kent told his old friend. Sain wasted no second after that in searching for Lucius, a bishop.

"Lucius! Lucius! I need you right now!" the Green Lance came running to the bishop. Sain grabbed Lucius' hand was about to run up back to the ship's deck but was instantly stopped by the Sublime Mercenary. "What are you doing?" the red haired mercenary asked as he gave the green knight a cold, piercing look. "Kent. He needs Lucius. His leg shot. Needs healing. Must hurry." Sain replied. He was out of breath from sprinting around the ship and also the nervousness Raven brought to him. Raven and Lucius both gave a strange look to their fellow comrade. "Ok, ok. Kent got shot by an arrow on his legs. He needs mending right away!" Sain said after recollecting his breath. The three ran up to the deck to tend to Kent.

"Is he alright?" Sain said in a loud and worried voice. "He'll be alright but he won't be doing his usual training for about a week." Lucius the Light answered. "But it would've been better if we came up here much faster." At the statement, both the knight and the mercenary blushed and they both murmured something to themselves which sounded like "Note to self."

"By the way Sir Sain, did you get to see who shot your friend?" Raven asked. Sain only shook his head. "Do you know where the arrow came from?" Lucius asked. Again Sain shook his head. "Then did you move Kent's position after being shot?" Lucius asked again. Another shake. "Good. I was observing the arrow on Kent's leg and its angle of elevation with the floor was immense. If so, this sniper must have shot at a pretty high angle and since air current is from cold to warm, our sniper is on the bay. The sniper is right outside the ship."

_Gerik finished giving Neimi her position in this battle. The archer went right away to prepare herself. Gerik read through the list of steps Prince Ephraim and Prin Inez came up with: "2. After the sniper has weakened the defenses the assassins, here meaning Colm, Marisa, and possibly Rennac, would enter and take out the remaining guards. The 2 or 3 must be swift with their feet as well as killing." Gerik read through it once more to catch any errors he might have made while reading and went to search for Colm and Marisa. He gave a thought on Rennac and searched for him also._

"Let's go get that archer and bring him to justice!" Sain suggested loudly. Raven shook his head and said, "Not a good idea. I don't think an archer would randomly shoot at a pirate ship without a plan. And if the archer was just attacking us, then that archer would've bombarded us with at least 5 quivers of arrows by now. I think the archer wants us to come out." The bishop agreed and nodded. "Then what do you say we do?" The Green Lance asked. The other two thought for a while. "First, we need to get Kent into a safer place. And we might need to wake the others. Sain, take your friend to his cabin. Lucius, go wake the others and get them heavily armed. I'll guard out here." The mercenary hero said as he lit a torch. The bishop wished his friend all the luck his can summon and went to wake the others. Sain also picked up his friend and carried him to their cabin.

_"Alright you three, Prince Inez and Prince Ephraim were for you to get the guards or watchmen out of the way. I believe you three will be enough to take them down. And from my experience, take on one at a time, it reduces the trouble." Gerik finished giving out orders. Marisa, Colm, and Rennac left the tent swiftly and silently. The three nimble assassins went to stay there ground until Neimi's work has been done. The only person complaining was the rogue._

Sain got back to the deck only to find bad news. On the floor was Raven, out cold, and Lucius who seemed to be tending to his friend's wounds. "What's going on? Where are the others? What happened to Raven?" The Green Lance overwhelmed the healing bishop with multiple questions. "Sir Sain, calm down. Please. And I got bad news, good news, bad news, worse news, horrible news, and the worst news." Lucius said and lost the poor lancer in his sentence. "Alright, bad news: Raven is hurt. Good news: I fixed him up and he'll be fine. Bad news: He won't be waking up anytime soon. Worse news: He wasn't shot, meaning he got hurt in a duel. Horrible news: Whoever hurt Raven could be anywhere on this boat. And worst news: only half of our army got up. And the half that is coming up is taking their time coming up." Lucius explained the situation to Sain. Sain nodded although he caught nothing of what the Bishop said.

As the knight nodded, he heard a door open and close. The thought of others accompanying him gave the Green Lance a great amount of courage but the hope quickly died away when he saw that nothing came out of the door. The sound could've only been a speck of his imagination. Or far worse, someone could've gone inside. "…and so we have to be careful. Did you get that Sain?" the Bishop told Sain. However, the knight was too preoccupied with the door that he did not listen to of the words Lucius said to him. "Er……yeah, I got it." Sain lied.

Sain turned and faced his friend bishop, and as he did, he saw a flash of dark pink go between the bishop and himself. The flash left the bishop two crimson lines on his chest which grew thicker by the second. "Lucius!" the knight said as he ran toward the bishop. "Stop! You must flee! Leave me to be, but get yourself to safety. And don't forget the words I told you!" Lucius, using the final of his limited strength, warned the Green Lance. The knight swore under his breath and tried to recollect anything of which the high clergy told him.

As the knight was thinking, something pushed at him from the back and caused the knight to fall on his face. As swift as the attacker was, Sain's reflexes guided the knight's hands to the floor of the deck and stand on his arms. Sain then kicked his opponent with as much strength he could summon at the moment. The attack did not expect an armored knight to react this quickly and was caught off guard. The assassin was forced to the wall, then to the floor. Sain hastily drew out his favorite lance, which he named jasmine, and pointed its piercing end to the fallen assassin. To his surprise, the assassin was a girl and she looked no older than Lady Lyndis.

"Why are you here! Who sent you!" the knight yelled at the girl, but the girl only smiled back. "Rennac! Do it now!" the girl yelled out. Only then Sain realized he was being caught off guard. The Green Lance turned his head to see what was waiting for him and saw a guy jumping at him with a large wooden rod. The rod struck Sain on the back and forced him to fall. The only thing that stood between Sain and unconsciousness was his armor. As Sain fell, the girl quickly got on her feet and drew daggers which were hidden in her sleeves. The Girl ran towards the fallen knight with immense velocity.

Sain saw what was coming. He didn't have enough time to reach for his lance and block and his sword skilled match those of Nino. Only if he had listened to Kent. Sain instead placed his arms in front of his face in an attempt to block. The knight closed his eyes and braced himself for his possible final moment. Sain only waited. He waited and waited. It felt as if minutes passed by, or maybe it did because before any blade made any slashes on Sain that day a voice call out to him, "Um…..Sir Sain? Are you…are you alright?" The green knight look up and saw Priscilla staring at him. Behind her was Erk, then came the tactician Helen, Dorcas, Vaida, Legault, Renault, Dart, Fiora, Hawkeyes, Pent, Lyn, Oswin, Wallace, Marcus, Lowen, Isadora, Heath, Guy, Matthew, Jaffar, Rath, Bartre, Canas, Wil, Karel, Karla, and Geitz. Sain also noticed a badly injured boy on the floor. He wore blue assassin's clothes and had hair as dark as his clothes. Lyn noticed Sain's eyes wander off the the body and lock on it, "Oh him. He came into the cabin and tried to attack me before I could even draw my Sol Katti. But luckily Rath shot him before he could reach me, then Erk kind of got over reactive and burnt him a little." "And what about that girl who was attacking me?" Sain asked, looking around for her body. "A girl? You were curled up in your corner all by yourself when we came out." Lyn replied. "Bu, but…! Where is she then?" Sain said. Lyn and Helen, who was eavesdropping from behind the BladeLord, laughed as if Sain has made another joke.

While that was going on, Wil aimed and shot his arrow to the harbor. The wind carried the arrow and placed it right where the archer wanted it. From where the arrow landed, a scream from a girl broke the tranquility of the night and the archer who shot the arrow yelled out something like "Score!" and made the horse riding archer smile. This gave a sign to the third part of the two Magvelian Kings' plan.


	11. The Tides of Battle

For Disclaimers: I do not own any of the characters I write about. It all belongs to Nintendo. Do not get me and yourselves into unwillful situation by using my fanfiction in anyway.

For Reader: I guess this is something people were waiting for. Actually battles. Have fun reading and apologies for lateness. AP Global is one thing you Freshmen might want to refuse.

Lord of Pastries: Lucius did not die. He didn't make his orphanage yet, he can't die.

Speed Demon: Are you sure it was Marisa?

**The Tides of Battle**

**Part 2 of the Battle**

"_As the signal comes, you eight are to barge into the ship. Buy enough time for the air units to attack from the back with their carried units. I think if you hurry, you can catch up with Neimi." Gerik gave his orders to the army and searched for the remaining of the plan……_

"Ok guys-" Lyn coughed out loudly "And girls" Sain's horse neighed "And horses" the two wyverns roared out loud "And wyverns." Fiora's Pegasus neighed this time. "Alright! Everyone listen! I don't think we are getting attacked by mere sea bandits." Dart cleared his throat "No offense to you. Anyway, if we are dealing with people of higher power, we could be in for real trouble. Three of our best are already injured and down. If we ever want to beat them, I think we should go head on and take them down with force." Hector suggested to the awaken fragment of his army. Wallace, the silver armored knight gave out a cry of approval while others were all silent. "So on we go!" the blue marquess said and yelled as he held with weapon high with pride. From behind, the tactician tried to say something out loud, but was drowned by the yelling. "Hey! Attention over here!" Erk, the magician, screamed out so he and the tactician may be heard. "Er, yeah. I think she wants to say something." Erk said as he pointed at his old friend as the sudden silence overwhelmed his nervousness. "Em…I was thinking and…and…and I think we all shouldn't rush out because-""No need to worry. We can force these islanders of this harbor just by our skills. Let's go Eliwood." Hector, the Armad wielder said confidently and started to head out of the ship. "But……!" Helen said but only Erk was able here her muffled voice.

The Marquess Ostia lead the rest of his group out of the ship. As he head for the harbor and to the shot archer, some impetuous force flew Hector several feet from where he stood. Alarmed, Oswin ran hastily to his lord even with heavy armor on his body. The horse riding Marcus also came swiftly to greet whoever had just attacked his lord's companion with his silver lance. Through the fog of darkness from the night which casted upon the harbor, the Knight of Pharae saw an armed cavalier standing next to the archer's body. The knight was armored liked a general as well as his horse was in his dark orange plates. The knight held an axe in his sword arm, a sword in its scabbard around his waist, and a thick lance on his back. Marcus only saw the shining bit of moonlight reflected from the knight's eyes through the helmet.

Marcus drew his sword with his left hand and the knight drew a lance. So the paladin replaced his lance for an axe and wore his shield on his back. The opposing knight switched his axe for a sword. In the pharaen knight's mind, he clearly knew this cycle would go on for ever. So Marcus withdrew his axe and equipped himself with a sword. As the other knight saw this, he held a lance and an axe. Marcus abruptedly, but gentle, kicked the side of his tamed horse and caused it to speed unexpectedly. As his horse ran, Marcus let himself of the horse's back and on to the stomach. A maneuver used by Sacaen cavalry archers. It was defying the laws of chivalry but to get through the knight's thick armor, he had to aim from under.

The opposing knight did not expect Marcus' move but was aware enough to defend himself from the blow. The horsed general used his weapons wisely. The armored cavalry pierced his lance to the ground at a perfect 90 degree angle from all points of view. The sword of the paladin was parried by the ground struck lance and the great knight easily blocked the long pointed lance with his large axe. As Marcus' horse passed by the great knight's, the armored cavalry took of his helmet swiftly and dropped it to his right side. As the thick helmet came to his feet, the knight kicked his head piece and hit the paladin's horse's thigh, causing the horse to jump. As the horse jumped, Marcus was thrown off his steed's back. This was a chance to strike the fallen paladin. The knight swung his great axe and was aiming for the paladin's neck; however, it was stopped by an opposing force, but not of the paladin's. An axe stood between the great knight and Marcus. There stood Oswin, the general of Ostia, with his axe drawn in his arm, "I will avenge the marquess." Those were the first words Oswin said all day. As the fight went one, four bird like shadows flew over the three chivalrous warriors.

Back in the ship, there were 6 supposedly deserters of Hector's orders; two magicians, a swords user, a lance wielding knight, and two archers. "A, are you sure we are allowed to do this?" the tactician mage asked the bladelord. "Helen, you worry too much. I don't think those two would mind if we did something right for a change." Lyn replied. Helen nodded and waited for something to happen from outside the ship. Besides the bladelord and the mage was at presence. Erk, the studious mage, was there to accompany his old friend, Rath the nomad was to defend lady Lyndis, Sain and Wil were specially requested by Lyn to accompany them in any case of danger, and the five also fully trusted Helen's tactical judgments.

As expected, four air units approached the ship; there were three pegasus and a wyvern. Wil and Rath already aimed their arrows at the oncoming enemies. The two fired their well aimed shots which were concealed by the darkness of the night. The arrows flew right into the thighs of two pegasus. The impact startled the two pegasus and caused them to fall on to the ship's deck. Two quick movements flashed away from the falling pegasus before they fell to the floor and landed on deck unharmed. The two pegasus were injured, but not severely. The other two flying units landed and got off in pairs.

Aside from the wyvern and the pegasus riders, which are usually lance users, there were a hero, an archer, a wizard and a priest. Without a word, the archer hastily drew an arrow from his quiver and aimed it with his elaborate silver bow, which were only used by people of high classes, and pointed at Sain. The green lance was quick with his shield and covered is unarmored upper portions of his body. After bracing for the arrow's impact, Sain realized the blow was never meant for him, or at least the arrow was never used on him yet. Sain unguarded himself and saw the opposing archer's bow string snapped, and the Archer Without Equal smiling proudly at his dexterous hands.

Lyn drew her sword, Sol Katti, and took her usual fighting stance. Helen, Erk, Wil, and Rath fired their attacks rapidly at the intruders and the eight took shelter behind anything that would shield them from the magic and the arrows. Lyn, the bladelord, ran through the showering attacks and swiped her sword gracefully in the air and did her usual lounge. One of the pegasus rider stood her ground with her lance pointing at Lyn just enough to stop the bladelord's attack. The other two pegasus riders also drew their weapons and went towards the defenseless swordsman. Having experience against lancers, Lyn knew her sword will the least of help at her position, so instead of blocking with her blade, she kicked the long, blunt side of the knights' spears out of the way and slashed her sword furiously. The Sol Katti wasn't as long as the knights' lances but giving up ground to evade the attack completely was taken rather quickly by the pegasus riders. The battle went on the boat as the other slept soundly in the ship's cabin.

The armored cavalry knight look at Oswin and Oswin looked back. The opposing knight could tell that Oswin was a tough enemy to beat. Oswin's armors, stance, and his well-built body showed that he was indeed a great knight, a general of Ostia. The Nameless knight carefully rode his steed to where his helm has flown to, trying very hard not to get Oswin started on an attack. As the rules of chivalry, a knight was not able to fight an unarmed/unarmored knight. The Ostian just stood and watched the knight wipe the sweat off his face, the sweats taken to knock Marquess Hector and Marcus off their feet. Oswin also saw that the knight was an aged fellow. His hair showed signs of grayness and his face was wrinkled with elderliness. The knight now placed his head piece back on, where it belongs. The knight grabbed his axe and lance once again and took his pose. "Before we duel, I would like to request of your name." Oswin said. "Yes, on should know the name of his slayer. I'm Duessel, the obsidian knight." The name was strong and well-made. The title Obsidian was more than fitful to the knight for Duessel looked unshakable and forceful in his armor and his horse.

Now that both of them were ready, Oswin took his attack by throwing his immense axe up in the air as high as his arms can allow. The horse knight charged in thunderously and held out his axe and lance. Greeting the knight were Oswin's two spears known as horseslayer. Each was held firmly in Oswin's grips and was ready to knock the horseman down at any second. As any other knight would, Duessel knocked the general's weapons off of their target with his axe. Oswin quickly let his left hand loosen its grip and dropped his horseslayer and drew a halberd with his vacant hand. Swinging the long axe forcefully, making sure the cavalry to back off immediately. Oswin jabbed his lance right away in attempt to damage the knight. Once again the Obsidian backed off. "You might want to change your battle tactics." Duessel corrected. "And I think you should look out for falling objects." Oswin said. Realizing at the moment, Duessel look up and saw the hammer which Oswin threw over his head. In matter of seconds, it clashed with the knight's helmet with a loud, piercing clang. "As you said, 'One must know the name of his slayer.' I am Oswin of Ostia." There laid the Great Knight of Grado. "Duessel!" a deep male voice called the fallen knight. Oswin look out of surprise.

The Bladelord dropped her sword down and sat behind the barrels next to the tactician. Erk, the sage, was sitting with them also, and was rapidly casting Elfire to the intruders. "Whew……those knights are pretty good." Lyn said as she breathed deeply. "Heal!" Helen casted the magic on lady Lyndis and her body regained so strength. "Now, how are we going to beat them like this? We only have few melee fighters who could get marked out so easily, especially by that archer." Lyn said as she some what pointed at the silver haired archer on the other side. "Well, we can try to hold this up until morning, I guess someone will wake up and aid us." Erk made a sarcastic joke, his first joke that month. "Florina is just tired from working so hard." Lyn said and stuck out the tip of her pinkish tongue. "Well, since our units are excellent marksmans, why don't we just wait for the enemy to charge at us? I mean, they for more brute force than we do, right?" Helen suggested and as her sentence ended, a javelin flew from the other side and landed just between the tactician's two legs. "A close one." Lyn stated as the former mage was still trying to analyze what has just happened.. She saw the Green Lance running to them to fetch the javelin to throw back.


	12. A Rude Awakening

For Disclaimers: I do NOT own any of these characters (even the tactician, since Nintendo gave me the idea of a tactician) so do not do whatever you guys do with other people's literary art work.

Speed Demon: I was kinda surprised to find most of the people who read the chapters to think it was Marisa who got shot, but a good guess. And thanks for the comment.

Lord of Pastries: I'll make sure Canas gets into a good fight, don't worry (Canas fan )

OverDrive: Good to know you like my fanfic. The battle wont subside for a while, you might have to wait.

**A Rude Awakening**

**Part 3 of the Battle**

_"Um……Lyn?" A little pegasus rider called to her friend. "What's wrong Florina?" a girl with long blue-green hair replied to her friend's call. "Do you…have you…um…aren't you afraid of the dark?" Florina asked. Lyn just smiled at her friend who was just spewing with childish innocents. "No, not anymore. I got over it when I was a little kid. Why?" Lyn asked, the swordsman was now enjoying the conversation more than Florina. "It's nothing…" the pegasus knight replied sheepishly and looked down at the dark green grass on the ground to conceal her blush. "Wait, are you trying to say that you are still afraid of the night?" Lyn asked, smiling even wider. At any moment now, she will burst into laughter. "No…! I'm just…!" Florina answered quickly and looked up at her friend. Florina's face was even redder than before. "Florina! What would your sisters think?" the bladelord said and laughed. Even though Lyn mentioned both of Florina's sisters, the pegasus rider knew very well that Lyn was only referring to her younger sister, Farina, who will torment her for the rest of her life with this topic if she, God forbids, ever finds out. "Lyn, please don't tell her." Florina said with a worried tone in her voice. "Alright, I'll think about it." Lyn said, still letting out her little grin. "No! Say that you won't tell Farina!" the poor pegasus knight said desperately. "Ok. I won't tell Farina. But I think I can help you overcome that fear. Follow me." Lyn said and guided her little friend to a dark room."_

There was a lot of noise in the room where the pegasus knights slept. The the sound was coming from the deck right above the room. Florina, the youngest of the pegasus riders in the army was woken up by the loud discord of people on the deck. The pegasus knight looked around the dark room she in. It didn't take her much time to let her notice that she was in fact, alone. The darkness and the isolation fed the fear inside her. "Fiora?" Florina quickly called out. There was no answer. "Farina?" she called again and yet no reply. "Lyn? Anyone?" the pegasus blurted out names in hope of finding someone to ease her fright but there was no response at all. Some driving force gave her a drop of courage to get up. So she did and crept out of her room slowly and silently, holding her light, slim lance tightly in her tiny hands.

She moved tardily across the hall of the ship. Soon she saw a shadowy figure roaming in the ship. The person was completely covered in garments and was unable to be recognized. "Lyn? Is that you?" Florina said. The shadowy figure halted right away, ran to a turn, and disappeared. "Lyn? If this is a joke, it's not funny!" Florina yelled and chased after the person. Florina turn at the corner just like the person. To the knight's surprise, the person wasn't Lyn or any of her sisters. The person was an assassin, a pink haired female assassin. She had her daggers out to rip Florina to shreds at any moment. The assassin slashed at the pegasus knight and the knife landed on Florina's left arm, fortunately not her lance arm. The pale haired knight grabbed her injured arm and ran the other way as she screamed for her sisters.

"It's useless! We can get through!" Sain yelled at the bladelord from the other end of the deck. "Well, why don't YOU try to conjure up something bright for once!" Lyn yelled back right away. The two would've had their own little duel if it wasn't for the two archers that were present at the moment to hold the two back. The two mages chanted out magics across the ship while the others were preoccupied in the irrelevant affair. "I can't take this anymore! Bolting!" Erk impatiently casted the magic at the enemy. A huge bolt of lightning fell from the clouds and struck a lancer who was treated with healing magic right away. "This is so annoying!" the Studious Mage yelled out. The magician charged towards the opposite side as he shot rains of Elfire. The tactician chased after her friend, also shooting fire at the other side. The purple haired mage kept running and running. He was almost there to finish off the intruders. Suddenly, there was a huge pain on his nose. Soon, Erk noticed that it was all over his face and it burned. He fell backwards and held his face in his palms. Oddly, no one was using heal on him, not even Helen. He looked up and saw a wooden door blocking his sight. He has just run into an open door and from the door came out a screaming pegasus knight, running as if the red dragon was chasing her.

Erk wasted no time standing up. As quickly as he stood up, he grabbed Florina's wrist and ran towards where he came from. On the way he got hold of the tactician and sprinted as fast as he can. As he ran, he felt his legs giving up on him. He felt the two girls slowing down, and lastly, he felt an arrow piercing through his right thigh. The mage focused the remaining of his strength and jumped over the barrel. He was now safe. "Florina! What are doing! Isn't passed you bed time?" Lyn teased as she examined the wound on the youngest of the sisters' arm. "Helen! What are you waiting for?" Lyn gave a commanding line to the tactician and she obeyed to her mistress before she even caught up to her breath. "Heal!" the ex-mage yelled and all was well. Next, the blue haired tactician went to Erk. She first had to pull out the arrow from Erk's upper leg. She could not possibly yank out the cold steel of the arrow in fright of hurting her friend even further, however Lyn was more than happy to pull it out for her. With out wasting a second or a drop of blood, Helen quickly summoned her magic to heal the purple haired sage. The wound closed right away and color was restored into Erk's face but consciousness was not yet recovered.

"Now let's get this straight. You just out ran an assassin?" Lyn couldn't believe what Florina has just told her. "Adrenaline." Helen whispered to herself as she shot a stream of lightning at the other side. "And the person is still inside?" Lyn asked and the pegasus knight nodded. "Don't we have to go find the assassin before…" Sain dared not finish the sentence and the bladelord didn't give him a chance to. She was already running for the door to the cabin.

"You must be a quite of a lancer to take down Sir Duessel. I request you to duel me as well." The mist of the night cleared an revealed another horse riding knight, not as heavily armored as the on before him but still his presence overwhelmed his blood. The two knights held out their weapons. From their back came the noise made by the rest of their company.

Rennac searched the ship. He felt as if he was walking in circles but he did not care a bit. All he wanted was the bountiful treasure a pirate ship might hold. He halted at the sound of footsteps of another being in the halls. "Where's the food? That Merlinus must have switched it around again!" a male voice said and Rennac followed it. The rogue nimbly and silently traced the tone and came to a hall where a pirate wandered. The pirate had brown hair and wore a white bandana over it. He held a huge Battle Axe in his left hand and several other axes on his belt. The rest of his outfit was no different from any other oceanic bandits Rennac have seen in his way deep inside the cabin. The rogue quietly drew his dagger and sneaked few steps closer to the pirate. The sea bandit opened a random door in the hall and Rennac lounged at the axe wielder, breaking the tranquility inside the ship. The well trained pirate hesitated at nothing to block the knife from landing at its target. "Rennac?" the pirate called the rogue.

On the other side of the ship Marisa also walked about to look for any more victims to assassinate. At the right time she saw a green armored knight. She let herself get covered in shadows and followed the knight. She hoped it was the same person she met on deck for he proved to be the weakest of the three she faced: a swordsman, a bishop, and the knight. As the Crimson Flash got closer the knight's resemblance to Sain started to disappear. Instead, the guy looked more like the person that rescued her and her guild leader, Gerik, at night few days ago. The pink haired assassin stopped and thought for a moment. She wasn't yet strong enough to beat someone like Sir Harken, but she could surely try. The closed space and darkness gave an assassin over a knight like him. It was worth a shot.

Marisa now looked up to see where the swordsman was. To her surprise, he wasn't there. She looked around and found no trace of the knight. There was a flash, just like how she attacks, then a burning pain on her right arm. She drew back and dropped her weapons and if Gerik was there Marisa would've surely been scolded at. She grabbed her right arm and looked around again; no one was there in the halls. She felt as if she was being attacked by another assassin than a knight. She grabbed her weapons again and stood back up. This time, her left shoulder ached. Trying very hard to suppress her pain, she staggered into the dark. As soon as she did, something kicked her in the leg and forced her to fall on her back. Now she was able to she the knight and he was pointing his sword at her. She knew she was done. Before it would be over she asked, "How do you move like that? I thought knights move only as fast as an active rock." Marisa gestured at Harken. "Didn't I tell you? I was once a part of the Black Fang, a thief organization, and I learned a lot in there." Harken said and buffeted Marisa's head with the handle of his blade and her consciousness was lost for the day.

Back on the deck, the guards of Fargus' ship remained and talked amongst themselves briefly of a way to defeat the enemy. "…and it will be over. Does everyone understand?" the tactician finished at last. It was time to out wit the Magvelian King of Frelia.


	13. What the Two Dragons Hate

Disclaimers: Make reference to previous chapters

Readers: I won't spoil anything here but to tell you, it took me 30 minutes to come up with the ice magic. Although Glacefrost might sound corny (Beauty is to the eyes of the beholders) just read on please. And don't think I don't like Excalibur because of all this. Wind magic rocks.

Oniki: Good theory there, but I like to argue on the opposite situation all the time. And weapons aren't the only factors of winning. Just saying it so both of them has a fair chance of winning. I'm not saying you are wrong.

Pastries: Oh, I was thinking about making a sequel to Hector on Magvel. Anything can happen in the seas. That is after he gets off Magvel.

**What the Two Dragons Hate**

**Ship Battle Finale**

_It was a bright sunny day in the St. Elimine Academy of Magic and Sorcery. It was midday and the students were busy in their lesson. In the theory and analogy of ancient magic, the subject of the most destructive ice magic, Glacefrost. "Glacefrost is the strongest ice magic known to men. It was originally used by a dragon hunter while killing a dozen of red dragons for their never ceasing fire horns. As we all know, the fire dragons are extremely poor in protecting themselves from cold magic. These are some steps and theories to composing a Glacefrost. Copy it as I go." The professor said and continued to write down the notes. The pupils copied it down as the lesson continued on._

_This is so stupid. _Lyn, the bladelord thought to herself. She was running around the edge of the deck, dodging the oncoming magic and arrows. _Hopefully the tow mages comes up with the magic fast. _She said in her mind and she dodged two more fireballs. She lured the ranged enemies away from the two chanting mages. _Just a little more! Just a little more! Just a little…_

"Dart? What are you doing…? Wait, this is Captain Fargus's ship?" the rogue asked the pirate. "Um, of course. Why wouldn't it be?" Dart replied and cocked an eyebrow. "Oh…oh…! Oh my St. Elimine! Dart! We got to stop this! We need to contact Prince Ephraim and Innez at once!" Rennac yelled as he tugged his white bandana wearing friend out of the place. "Whoa! Hold it there buddy. What's the rush?" the pirate asked his friend who was jumping off the walls of the ship. So Rennac obeyed. "Holy St. Elimine! We have to get Lord Hector!" after hearing the whole nine yards of the situation, Dart also knew he had to make haste in order to limit the blood lose.

_Hold it a little longer Wil. You can do it. You were the best marksman in your town. You can let these people get the best of you! _Thought Wil. As he thought, two arrows flashed right past his face. Wil angrily turned to where the arrow has come from. The shooter was the Magvelian archer that came along with the pegasus riders. The other stared into Wil as he drew out another arrow. The archer without equal, Wil, reacted equally as he drew his arrow from his quiver. Both placed their arrows on the bow and pulled back the string. The two archers aimed carefully to each other. The arrows now pointed directly at the archers. They released the arrow at the same time and the tips of the arrow collided in air creating miraculous sparks in the dark night. Behind Wil, Sain, the Green Lance, tried hard to hold off the three pegasus knights that endlessly kept Sain busy with their continuous jabs with their spears. The green armored knight's headband was soaked with sweat. His legs burned with fatigue. He was barely able to stand his ground as he blocked and evaded the attacks.

"I swear, if those two don't finish chanting right now, I'll start chanting my own magic!" Sain yelled out so the spell casters could hear his complaint. "You whine too much." The bladelord ran passed the Green Knight as she was pursued by 3 rounds of fire. The headband wearing knight took cover for the first two and demolished the last one with a swing of his trusty lance. "Move out of the way!" the voice of the purple haired mage, Erk, rang in the night.

"How could you not recognize this ship? You've been for 5 years!" Dart yelled as he swept the halls of the ship as he dragged the rogue. "Well, the ship changed a lot in the passed two years. And the ship is a lot more damaged than I would think Capt. Fargus would let it be." Rennac excused himself but Dart wasn't yet satisfied with the reply. "Well, you show have known us atleast through the flag." Dart pointed out. The flag? Oh yes, I was going to ask you the same. What happened to the flag?" the rogue asked the pirate. In confusion he replied, "What do you mean about the flag? Isn't it still up there?" Rennac shook his head and Dart fumed even more.

"I said move!" the mage said. He glowed icy blue, especially his right fist. As Erk waved his hand, the Eliwood's side of the units took cover. "Glac-""Not so fast! I won't let you get away with what you have done." On the other side, there was another purple haired mage, however, unlike Erk, it was a she. "Remember me from the library? Last time you got away, but this time I'll use the strongest wind magic known to men! You'll fall just like Elondrach, the terrible desert dragon!" Lute said, she glowed lime green and a lot on her hands. "You got to be joking. What will you use?" Erk said, half gesturing. "Excalibur." She breathed the final word of the magic. Without hesitation Erk screamed "Glacefrost!" The magic would clash right at the ship and there was no stop to it.

The elements clashed and caused frozen, blade-like shards to fly every direction. Neither side flinched nor backed off. Instead, Erk swung his arm once again. However, instead of one straight line of ice flowing at Lute, numerous spikes of solid ice formed and headed towards the Magvelian mage. Lute counteracted by creating a current of gale and sent the icicles back at Erk. The Studious Mage shielded himself quickly with a thick sheet of ice that blocked off his own attack. Erk snapped his finger and the coat of ice that protected him from the previous attack subsided.

"You aren't back with magic. Your understanding of that breeze is complimenting." Wiping the cool sweat on his forehead, Erk acclaimed. "Like YOU know anything about archaic magic. If you think this that was enough, wait 'til you see this!" Lute rejected Erk's comment and focused her magic. Her radiant green light grew brighter. Erk did not have a chance to respite. He also started to invoke on his remaining energy. A grain of wind blew around Erk. Soon that wind amplified and grew vehement. The nature's force of air movement surrounded Erk. The typical characteristics of a wind magic; which are quick casting time, low conjurer's slack, and petite use of positive energy was superior to the slow and tardiness of an ice magic. Erk only focused harder, trying not to get distracted by the effects of Excalibur. He felt the wind pushing him upwards as his feet lifted from the ground. Binding his desire to open his eyes, Erk continued to chant. Now wind took a form like a blade, ready to tear the floating mage. Sword-like zephyr seeked out Erk and hovered to him. The magic slashed Erk's left forearm and drove itself to another attack. As Erk held his mind to his magic, he heard the cries of his comrades calling to him. To react. He, then, felt the pause at the flow of his magic. The ejection of his energy to his tome ended. Glacefrost was ready.

The wind edge, Excalibur, once again homed at Erk. It hit perfectly in his heart and seemed to have pierced throw. "Erk!" the tactician cried with tears flowing on her soft cheeks. Erk himself made no movement, however there was movement. Ice composed on the mage. Slowly from the heart, it expanded out. It contoured over his body and his garments. The process occurred until his entire surface was covered by ice. "So this is how he defeated so much fire dragons without being burnt: becoming untouchable by anything." Erk murmured to himself.

The weight of the dense ice coating made Erk so heavy that the air current wasn't able to support his mass. Erk landed heavily on his frozen legs which cushioned the recoil of the fall. Lute, astonished by the sight, shot out more wind in attempt to break through the ice shielding of Glacefrost. Excalibur barely made any scratches and Erk advanced at the mage knight of the island continent. She continued shooting at Erk and his magic didn't fail him to guard its user. "My turn." Erk's statement was as cold as his gaze and his spell.

The sky darkened and the ocean became passive. The surrounding atmosphere chilled and condensed up a mist around the boat. "B..barrier!" Lute held her staff up high and covered herself in a magic resistant armor. "Do you know how thick a dragon's plates are?" Erk asked and he took another heavy step closer to the mage knight. Lute gave a small nod which wasn't totally visible to anyone on the ship. "Do you know how to get through a dragon's plate?" he asked again. "Um…not that I know of." She replied as she backed way in growing fear. "Well, there isn't. But a pin-sized object can penetrate the space between two plates. And frozen water drops aren't much different." Erk explained and his frozen face showed a hint of a grin. Lute foresaw an attack.

At a flick of his finger, the mist clouded around Lute, froze up, and went for the barriered mage knight. Her screaming filled the night. The shielding magic of barrier was only another sheet of paper for a knife like Glacialfrost to cut through. The stored magic of Erk's ended quicker than expected. The tiny ice drops defrosted and splashed on the deck. The cold crust of ice that coated Erk also drenched his every inch. With the depletion of his positive energy, Erk collapsed to his usual "Battle Aftermath" (as Lord Pent called it). For someone who was inside an ice shell, Erk was very warm. Lute, on the other hand, looked terrible. Around her were shreds of clothing, some bits of flesh, and a puddle of mixed water and blood. The girl lied on the stained deck, unconscious.

"Stop!" A white bandana wearing pirate yelled as he ran out of the door. Behind him was a rogue, nosebleeding (probably got droven into a door on the way out) but looked friendly enough to just wipe it on his cloak. "Rennac! What did that pirate do to you?" the archer of the island kingdom asked. Rennac opened his mouth for Magvel and Dart for Phaerae and all of its neighboring lands. If it wasn't for the swift tongues of the rogue and the huge mouth of the pirate, the two sides of the boat wouldn't have come to a peaceful end, and Rennac would've been killed by Lyn as well as Dart by Prince Innez. "Oh, by the way, what happened to those two?" Dart asked as h e pointed at the bodies of the two mages, who were being mended by the tactician lady and the young bishop friend of Lute. That also had to be clarified. "See Rennac! If you didn't whine about that annoying cleric, I think Serra was her name, punching your nose we could've been here to stop this!" Dart yelled at the lock picker. "Wha 'appen'd?" he said as Helen treated his nose with a healing staff. The berserker mumbled "Nevermind" and headed off the ship. "Anyone want to help me stop those armored blockheads?" Dart asked for volunteers. All called in except for those who knew how to heal.


	14. One by One

Disclaimer: Just use your logic please and learn your copyright rules.

Pastries: I luffle your comments also Thanks for cheering for me everyone

WildFire: I'm trying real hard to write but my time isn't working out that easily. At least I got this chapter on

**One by One**

**Battle in the Harbor Part 1**

The armored knight of Ostia dropped his lance and sat on his right knee. _This guy is fast. Maybe faster than our younger cavaliers._ The general thought. The paladin charged with his lightning fast horse and went to pierce the Ostian once again. Oswin took stance, at least to block the lance from landing on his uncovered areas. The horse rider's spear was at jabbing distance when Oswin recklessly grabbed the neck of the lance and swung it. The horse lost its balance and tripped side ways. Landing on his unarmed hand, the paladin cart wheeled back on his feet. "Not bad." The magvelian knight commented. The helmet of the paladin was missing from its place and Oswin saw the young bright face of a well raised man. His rich red hair, not like Kent's orange-ish red hair but bright brick red like Kent's armor, waved with the wind. "As I like to say, watch where you step." The red hair said as he brought forth a grin. Oswin looked down quickly and saw dark markings on the floor. Someone has casted a Flux magic at where he stood. The darkness surrounded him; his resistance was useless on the magic. Knight like Oswin are not fit for taking magic damage and his eyes grew as he watched helplessly at the red haired paladin charge passed by him without a hint of hesitation. But as fast as the darkness surrounded him, it dispersed. The magic was canceled for an odd reason. Under his feet was another dark mark that overlapped the first one. "Counter magic, Nosferatu!" the voice of the young druid rang in his ears like a song. It strengthened Oswin as he pulled himself together to seek the sophomoric shaman who tried to pull a fast one on him. But first, Oswin gave a thumbs-up to Canas who supported the general so well. The dark mage nodded. Oswin gave only 5 thumbs up in his life; to Hector when he retrieved Armads, to Marcus in the battle with the red dragon, to Matthew when he chased Hector away when he was in his meditating time, to Canas in a harbor battle in Magvel, and sometime later.

The heavily armored knight ran. He panted as heavily as his head piece; he sweated like when he was in the cave where the Phaeran Marquess found his Durandel, and his armors weighted down on him as if a pegasus has just landed on his shoulders. He finally came to an aisle in the streets where an alone shaman-looking magician stood, staring coldly at Oswin. "You found me." He said from under his dark cloak. His clothing was all dark and black like the starless night in the winter skies. "Say hi to my friends." The shaman said as he waved his hands. Oswin quickly looked to find some sort of long ranged units at highly elevated locations, but found none. "Not up there, look around you." The black robed mage said. The lance holding knight observed his dark surroundings and a scare to his life, there were living skeletons walking amongst him. "…Wha…what sorcery is this?" Oswin as he looked around more to find numerous axe-holding skeletons summoned out of different area. "This is a summoning. But I guess pirates can't understand third level magic." The magician said and made a gesture with his hands. The skeletons took action and aimed for the knight.

The paladin's name was Seth. He rushed to where he thought he have seen an enemy magician casting a dark magic. He only stopped at an empty dead end to turn back and search again. Either this druid or shaman was real good at hiding or running. Knowing his fellow companions, Knoll and Ewan, Seth thought dark mages were the lasting you would call "Stealthy." There was a spark of purple radiance in a corner of a street. _Clumsy pirate mages, _Seth thought and hurried towards the dull light. As Seth got closer to the light, a shadowy figure formed around the sparkle. The figure wore a dark purple robe that looked a lot like Ewan's red and dark blue druid's robe. "Sain?" said the person before Seth swung his lance.

The lance pierced through the robe quite freely. Maybe too freely. Whatever the lance had hit, it didn't stop the swing's flow. The spear just pierced through and knocks the mage off of his feet. With a silent cry, the druid fell on his back. "Ow…that wasn't a nice thing to do." The dark magic caster said as he stood up again and brushed the dirt off of his clothing. Seth saw a large hole on the right sleeves; he has only stabbed a guy's long and wide sleeves. "You knights should really be kinder to scholars. Brute force isn't always everything." The druid said and brought his hands close together, but enough space to fit a wyvern egg. The druid started chanting swiftly. The movement of the lips was barely visible in the night but it was sapphire clear that he was chanting faster than anyone he has seen before. A dark orb appeared in the gap between his two hands as fast as a bishop would chant in a lightning. Seth stayed mobile to try to confuse the magician from knowing where to aim for, but flux comes from under the victim. The darkness bound the horse's legs in place as the horse revolted and threw the rider off of its back. The paladin quickly got back on his feet and ran at the druid with his tip of the lance pointing directly at the dark mage. Canas withdrew.

"Whew, that was a good exercise." Oswin muttered to himself after he has wiped out the army of bone-soldiers with a blow of this heavy lance at a time. The skeletons weren't even able make a scratch on the general's armor. "Ah, so you aren't like those cheap mercenary knights." The darkly dressed druid talked rather calmly. "That's odd. Last time I checked I had a nosferatu with me somewhere." Now the druid searched his bag to look for a tome that wasn't there, the tome that was being read by a little boy with a flaming red hair back in the tents. Oswin chuckled lightly as he approached the druid. "Stay back you thief! I'm still a top researcher of Grado and a summoner. I could still get more phantoms after you." The summoner said as he searched deeper into his bag. "So." The knight said as coldly as the sea while he took another step closer. "Aha! Here's the Luna tome!" the researcher held a basic fire tome in his hands.

"_Oh…my mother would kill me if she found out I was running in my caster's robes again. Besides the huge hole that knight made on my sleeves." _The druid, Canas, thought of horrible punishments that might be used by the hermit. "Short caste, Flux!" Canas took a cheating curve with his dark magic casting. He used the magic he have been saving on while running and sparked it all at once. Mostly only holy and anima magics tend to "explode" as they are used. Darkness rather "burns" magic. However, Canas exploded his magic with a Flux tome, all thanks to his great focus. This flux was a short one. The usual effects of flux would be slow devouring of one's mind with darkness, but this time, Seth felt an immense sensation of evil all at once. He felt all his greatest fears flash in his head. The paladin fell to his knees as his grasped his head. "Guess my new technique worked." Canas said as he approached Seth. "Hope I didn't hurt his head too much." The druid continued. As he got into touching distance, he grasped his staff of mending. He closed his eyes and chanted the magic. He felt his positive energy drain away to the staff. "Sea bandits, they're all the same." The paladin said. Canas felt a burning pain just under his left shoulder. "But, that was a real nice flux you had on me. Never seen a druid as fast as you."

The second army of skeleton was finished off with a dozen of Oswin's mighty swings. "H…how…!" the summoner was shocked to see all of his phantoms turn to dust. "Might want to work on one on one combat more often." The general commented on the summoner's battle tactic. "I'm a summoner. We don't spar like you knights. We study." The light blue haired summoner replied quickly. "No tomes to use. No weapon to wield. How will you fight me? Are you going to summon more of those toothpicks?" Oswin pointed out further. The magic user jerked to protest, but found his situation to be unfitful for one. "War isn't a game. Don't take it too lightly. Don't come to battle if you can't even fight." Oswin said and he swung his forceful arms back and got ready to strike the summoner. As the weapon grasped arm fired at the summoner, something light, but hard, gently prodded the general's arm, a dark tome. "Hey, isn't it against the codes of chivalry to attack an unarmed soldier?" a deep male voice came from where the book was hurled. It was the paladin he has just faced few moments ago. The islander-knight looked a bit different from the last time Oswin saw him. The guy was definitely short on a steed and a head protector. Also, he had a grip on a druid with purple hair and the traditional dark robe, only it was tattered. "Canas! What has become of you, young lad!" the knight roared at the defeated dark mage. "Ugh…Sir Oswin…I…" the druid tried to explain his way out of push-ups, but he didn't have the heart or the strength at the moment. "Prisoner exchange." Seth demanded and Oswin gladly compromised. Vengeance and hatred burned in all four that study in the dark night of the harbor.


	15. Black Silvers of Ragin Flares

For Disclaimer: I don't like you. I have to write this every time because of you. I don't own these characters so don't steal them from Nintendo. I like Nintendo and I don't want them to hate me because of you.

For readers in general: I still don't like disclaimers. I've been busy with school literary magazine so I'm real sorry. The title of this chapter is nice but not much meaning to it as I planned few months ago. Have fun and may your path be guided. (I'm starting to write a novel)

**Black Silvers of Raging Flares**

**Harbor Battle of Canas and Oswin**

_"Ugh…" "S…Sir Oswin…! Are you hurt?" a druid of deep purple hair rushed up to the orange armored knight, holding out a healing staff to fulfill the knight's need. "I'm alright. Thank you, druid Canas." Oswin smiled from under his helm. There was an exchange of glance. "How did you get such a deep burn? It's not like you to receive so many hits from one unit." The druid asked. Looking at the columns of the building, as he tried to avoid Canas' eye contact, he replied, "This lunatic mage was showering his flame based magic at all around him. I took a fair amount of hits until that pirate, I think his name was Dart, came and hunted him down." "Oh, I see…" Canas pulled out a grin. "Hey, I was thinking of how your magic works and I came up with something." "Yes, Sir Oswin?" the druid replied at once. "Well, if you could hold the darkness with your magic, do you think you can enchant my lance with darkness?" the general sparked out his idea. "It's doable. Swords like runeswords, lightbrand, or windswords are all magic enchanted weapons. I guess I could force a tome into your weapon." The druid encouraged the knight's new plan. "Would that work for my armor too?" Canas nodded. "Well then, let's get to work before another mage finds us. Next time, I'll make sure no fire magic gets through me!" The general took off his armor plates and held out all his weapons and assisted the dark mage in his work._

"Drink Canas." Oswin said as he led the tip of a vulnery bottle to the druid's lips. After Oswin was sure of Canas' health, he once again regained his stance to confront the paladin. "Hold" Seth said with a hand gesture that cause the well armored knight to stop. "We can not start since our summoner here, Knoll, does not have a weapon to wield." The red haired paladin explained. Canas then searched his bag and found a worn out Flux tome. "Would this be enough?" his voice was filled with his usual politeness in spite of his past injury. The summoner accepted with equal courtesy, a must from a top researcher of Grado, and the four got ready to battle.

The druid started chanting right away. Knoll followed at a slower pace. After glancing over at Canas, the general held his axe up and charged at the paladin. _What's with this guy? Why is HE charging at me? Even if I'm not on horse, he should know better! _Seth was only further confused about the Ostian's battle tactics. Oswin's jog turned to a run to a sprint. Seth, the paladin, waited for the right time to shift out of the general's way and parry the blade with his own. The orange armored knight took a quick brake and smashed the ground directly in front of him causing the recoil of the axe to make the huge weapon fly involuntarily. Oswin precisely grabbed the handle of the weapon and made a long and wide horizontal swing. Barely expecting Oswin's form of attack, Seth just had enough time to trip himself without a control of his landing, which gave him a hard fall on his back. _Pull yourself together Seth. You can't let yourself be toyed by this man. _The paladin got on his feet to find himself getting targeted by a series of stabs from a pair of lances. His youth and reflexes saved his flesh for the moment. Seth, when he finally got a chance to respire freely, looked at Knoll for any sign of magic being casted. Of course, he only saw a hard working summoner doing a chant.

When Seth stopped, he was immobilized. His legs resisted to move to Seth's will. It wasn't like how the darkness of a druid's magic controlled a being's thoughts, but his legs just didn't want to move. "What type of magic is this? Did you indeed caste a sleep on my legs?" the paladin yelled at Canas. The druid only ignored the call and continued to chant his magic. Seth then heard a mocking chuckle of the heavily armored knight. "I must say my weapon does work." Seth only looked back in confusion since none of the blows actually landed on the paladin. Oswin, the Ostian general, revealed the handle of his lance where he grasped. There were numerous ancient scriptures that glowed dark, just like an ancient magic or better known as the black magic. "Nosferatu!" Knoll yelled. _Finally the lad is finished. _"Look out Sir Seth, it is a nosferatu." Dumbfound, Seth turned around and complained, "Knoll! Please finish casting YOUR spell! I could handle it by myself here." _But thanks young lad. Now I know._

The immensely armored knight once again got ready to serve out another blow of his magic scribed lance. "Barrier!" the summoner's voice rang as a sparkle of bright glitter surrounded the perimeter around him as it informed to both of the chivalry followers that Seth was being veiled in an invisible wall that will guard him from any harmful magic. Oswin withdrew his enchanted lance and took out an axe to wield with his right arm. Slashing horizontally, the general jabbed with his left. "Heal!" another voice came from the back of Seth. At the contact of the magic, Seth's strength restored and was able to block off the axe's impetuous blow. "Knoll, what did I tell you about magic! Stop minding me and get to work!" Seth, grateful but irritated, yelled out to the summoner. The paladin lifted his own pair of lances and jabbed furiously. "Gespenste!" came a voice that echoed in the tranquil streets.

The already dark surroundings turn to the worst. Every essence of light was cut off from the battlefield. The pitch black fog-like magic covered Seth's sight as well as Knoll and Oswin. Seth, stricken by fear, waited for an action to occur. Only to trouble the knight, a piercing scream rang from where Knoll used to stand. _One down, _Seth thought; shaking badly from the thought of what had just happened. "Aaaaaaah!" another screaming came to the paladin's ears, however it was not as loud as the summoner's, rather the sound was very faint. The clouds, as the echo of the cry died out, subsided. "Aaaahhh!" Another scream, the loudest one yet, was released to the night as the darkness all rushed to the point where the screaming began.

_"Are you sure you want me to do this, Sir Oswin?" Canas asked the fifth time. Nod. "Alright, but I do have to warn you, adding a fire magic to an armor is a risky thing. I've read about it in the General Enchant-""Lad, just do this for me." The knight said. Nod. The druid got to work as the fire tome was consumed to take over the essence of the grand armor._

The dark mist dissolved away in a rapid rate. As the black clouds drift away, it left behind three bodies: a general, a summoner, and a druid. The mist's essence, even after all has dissolved, remained around the general's armor; which now glowed in a bright fiery red. "Mr. Seth! I shall rescue you from these vermin's! Take my sacred holy magic, you beasts!" the famous Rausten's valkyrie came rushing to aid the paladin. Firing lightning at random direction, L'Arachel chased off the remaining Gespenste fogs. The glow of the Ostian armor faded and the black clouds disappeared. "Lady L'Arachel, did YOU defeat these pirates?" Seth wearily spoke. Shake. "Did thou not handle them before I came? I only chased away the dark magic of the ancient evil." The valkyrie replied. "Maybe that under rated mage lost control while using the magic and ran out of HIS magic." "Maybe, but then, what happened to…Knoll! How is he?" the sudden thought of the summoner overwhelmed his emotions. "He's ok, I think. I don't find any injuries or severe cuts to faint him. Did he use all of his magic also?" the Rausten lady asked. Shake. "Anyway, Sir Seth, we should get-" There laid Seth, exhausted from his duel and resting peacefully, at last, as the valkyrie's steed galloped away in the tranquil night.


	16. Aerial Ace

Disclaimer: I'm in a good mood. But I still don't like disclaimers. Don't take these characters. They aren't mine. Not even Helen since the idea of a tactician was not totally mine. You'll get sued, I'll get sued, and none of use three (you, me, and Nintendo) will not be very happy.

For readers: Long one, isn't it? Enjoy

GamerAndrew: I'll try hard not to kill them

SpeedDemon: That's why he's my favorite druid in all FE series D

**Aerial Ace**

**Fiora and Farina's story**

"Are you sure you saw something?" Fiora complained. "It could've been a cloud or something. It's a bit dark to tell anything at this hour." "No! I know wyverns when I see them!" Farina snapped as she searched vigorously. "Farina, I'm tired too. It's really not reasonable to say that you saw anything now." The pegasus knight said. "But…! I really saw it!" the Ilian mercenary said. "Maybe you did, but why are we searching here?" The two were hovering over an empty street. "I saw it come this way." Farina said. "Now, think Farina. Why would a flock of wyverns, with or without riders, come to a vacant street at knight? You sure you aren't feeling well?" the first division's captain asked. "I'm feeling fine, Fiora! But if you don't want to help me, so be it! Go back to the army because I'm catching those wyverns whether you help or not!" the blue haired pegasus rider flew away without hearing the protest.

"…and we should get back to the tent and warn them before anyone else gets hurt. Now, Frelians, go!" Tana finished her orders to the two pegasus riders and speeded off to her destination, the tent of the Renais' army. "Wait! My lady! Wait!" a fading yell came from the Tana's back. "Wait! You haven't assigned me a target." The wyvern knight, Cormag, yelled as his wyvern caught up to the pegasus. "Why would I do that?" the pegasus knight only looked puzzled. "Well, after I gave my loyalty to Prince Ephraim, I think I was put under you orders as you are the wing rider's commander." The Moonstone explained. "Oh, really? I didn't think much of it. You could, well…let's see now...oh yes! You can go follow Syrene if you want to." Tana, as she tried to think of what her brother would do, blurted out as the final resolution. "Oh, and one more thing, your highness." "Go on" _What more do you want!_ Tana thought. "There is this pegasus rider from Ilia, I believe, and she wishes you to command until she is reunited with her superior." Cormag said. Now that Tana actually looked carefully a girl, at about Tana's age, with long, curly, light blue hair was flying behind the wyvern with her own pegasus. "I guess she could come. But if you wish to aid Syrene, you should hurry." The wyvern knight gave a salute and flew away swiftly.

"Phew, he's gone. Finally." the Frelian princess let out a sigh and turn to the foreigner. "Hi. What's your name?" "I…um…my name is…uh…oh. I'm sorry. I forgot to say hi. Forgetting my manners again. Um…so my name is…uh…what's yours?" the pegasus rider, either she was afraid of Tana or immensely shy, mumbled. "Oh, my name is Tana. So, what yours?" Rather with a surprised look, the girl spoke again. "I…my name is…its…um…d, did you name your pegasus?" Another evasion to the name question. "Yes, of course. Her name is Zheharc. What's your pegasus's?" _Is she going to not answer again? _"Well, his name is Hooey." _Okay, so not expected. Maybe I should ask again. _"So, what's your name?" Tana, as her last try, asked the pegasus rider. "Oh, I'm sorry. M, my name is Florina." _Progress made._ The Frelian smiled and in return, she got a smile.

_Maybe Fiora was right…as always. She's always right. _Giving out a huge sigh, Farina looked to see if any airborne wyverns were present. A fragment of light sparkled near the coast of the harbor as if scales would. _I found it! _Farina was somewhat overwhelmed by joy but at the same time felt the necessity to become as serious as Fiora since fighting a wyvern rider to a pegasus knight was a difficult task. Wyverns were not as effective by spears as pegasi did. Also, any close combat with a wyvern would be deadly to a pegasus since pegasi were not as naturally armed as wyverns. Either way Farina need to win for the safety of her, her sisters, and the rest of the army and so on she charged.

Cormag dared not push his wyvern faster for the wyvern's health. Its left wing was, not severely, but a bit scorched after the battle last battle when a lunatic mage showered the rider and its wyvern with Elfire. The wing healed in the most parts but there were still parts of the wing that seemed to cause minor pains, as of stinging perhaps, to Cormag's wyvern. All of a sudden, the dragon-like creature stopped and sniffed the air. Something was disturbing the wyvern and he was searching for it. The wyvern bent his neck to look at what was behind him, an expression that Cormag saw so often, came: the look when it spots archers. The wyvern dived right away.

_Caught! Damn wyverns and their good sense of smell! _Farina had never been in a wyvern chase in her life. In affairs of wyverns, she was always the one retreating in mighty speed. She only stayed alert for any and all possible maneuvers that might be pulled off by the other rider since he seemed to have already dodged the flying javelin with a dive. There was no time to retrieve the javelin so whatever was left had to do. The pursued fled with amazing performance. The wyvern showed off its greatest aerial tricks as of the Rising Moon, a move where the dragon-kin stops its wing movement to perform a somersault and then flicks its wings to bounce from the air towards the direction the rider wishes to, or the Pale Driver, where the wyvern stretches one of its wings like a glider and flaps its other in rapid speed to twirl as they move onward so that the two may dodge any oncoming arrows, bolts, magic, or throwing weapons. Finally, tired from all the flying to flee, the wyvern made a quick 180 degrees turn. The rider held strong to his lance in his outstretched hand. _"Uh oh. Here it comes." _The Ilian thought.

"Your dead." Said the expression on both the wyvern and the rider's face. Farina hesitated at the look but pulled herself together and drew a lancereaver as well as her spear. The wyverner did not seem moved at all and charged at the pegasus with pull speed. It was Farina's as well as her pegasus' first face-to-face encounter with a wyvern. The pegasus, just like its rider, was full of fright that lead it to back off and revealed an open target on Farina. The skilled wyvern knight did not waste a second to put it to good use. The lance that Cormag held was jabbed in lightning speed, only to be parried just in time by the lancereaver and giving the pegasus rider a chance to deal an assault. The spear, however, was blocked by the wyvern's precise bite, which held on to the shaft of the spear and interrupted its attack.

_Now where did she go? _The oldest of the Ilian searched as far as her eyes allowed for her blue haired sister. Fiora had already checked the ship and got no information of the pegasus rider, only of the youngest, Florina. Also the tactician have requested, must have been an order from the tactician since she spoke in such manners always, not to fight the formal opposing side ruled by Ephraim of Renais. Finally a bishop from Ephraim's side, as it seemed, had given Fiora warnings of horrid monsters and this particular country of Grado since Fiora neither has dark magic that controls any monsters nor a crest that shows allegiance to Grado. Rather an unfamiliar crest as her's would encourage the fact that she is a mercenary hired by Grado's opposers. Either way, the trip back to the ship did not result in obtaining of knowledge she had hoped to find.

_Don't Grado's soldiers sleep under the prince's command?_ Cormag as he lunged at the pegasus knight once again. _They seem to attack at any and every hour now._ The wyvern rider swung his sword. _And since when did Grado ever hire skillful pegasus riders? _Cormag's wyvern snapped its lethal fangs at the mercenary rider. Then he stopped as a thought flashed in his mind. "Are you a mercenary?" It was a stupid question to ask but it was worth a try. "Yeah." The girl looked puzzled as she replied; probably she mocked the wyverner in her mind. _Okay, definitely a mercenary on Grado's side. _Now Cormag had no reason to hesitate. "Rleglawi, remember Tri-Fang Offense?" The wyvern nodded at his rider.

_What does Farina feed her pegasus?_ Fiora thought as she grew tired of searching for her pegasus riding sisters. The sight of any one of the two was enough to bring courage and delight to the Ilian's heart. Fiora had already thought of the lecture Florina and Farina would be getting after the battle was over, just to round to the nearest hour for length: 3 and Fiora was a fast talker. Soon, too soon, the air was filled with an ear piercing shriek. As alarmed as she became, she could not resist from saying, "That a way."

When Fiora finally reached the origin of the scream she saw her dear sister, the older one, pinned on the harbor's cold floor, unconscious, by a pair of lances and at the talons of the wyvern. Her pegasus laid not far from her, wounded. _Oh, she WAS right. _The eldest of the Ilian sisters felt an arrow of guilt pierce her as she gazed at her fallen sibling. It took her no second thought in drawing her lance but just to make sure, "Are you from Grado?" "I indeed am a Grado's crested wyvern and worked for its emperor but…" _Strike._ The word clouded her mind.

Fiora rushed in a deadly speed on her feet. Her single lance was drawn and was held firmly against her inner wrist. Her free hand reached for the hilt of her silver blade. As soon as she came in lunge distance with the wyvern, she pulled her sword out of its scabbard and swung it all in one motion. The wyvern back and released Farina from its and its rider's grip. Still, she laid motionless. Fiora jabbed her spear to any and all open target. Although it took not much effort to parry the jabs but it took enough concentration to block it before another jab made attempt. The wyvern tried to help its rider as efficient as he could but it claws and fangs were lightly defended by the skilled knight. Then there was a radical blow. Fiora's pegasus, using its horned head piece as a pierce, ran into the wyvern's side. By reflex, the dragon-kin whipped its massive tail and struck the well-bred pegasus and caused it to be tossed to the ground. The wyvern fell soon after.

The rider leaped off his wyvern unarmed. His hands were up as to show of his harmless intention. Fiora did not believe he was surrendering so easily, but she did believe in trickery. She sprinted towards the man and he yelled in alarm, "Wait! Stop! Are you not of Eliwood's?" Fiora stopped for none other than people of Ephraim's army knew of the passengers of the pirate ship, had the bishop said. However Fiora's suspicion did not die and she still held her lance pointed at the wyverner's chest. "And if I am?" "Then I have no quarrel with you. We of Renais' army have no intentions to hurt righteous travelers." Renais was the term used by the bishop to describe their group also. "But did you not say you are from Grado?" _Caught_ Fiora thought. "Have you not been listening? I thought I have told you that after my brother's death, I chose to side with Prince Ephraim." Fiora blushed slightly. _Oh, that's what I missed out. _"Alright, but what did you do to MY sibling?" A shock ran through the wyvern rider. "That mercenary is your sister?" Fiora nodded. "I am terrible sorry and ask for pardon for I had not known she was of your soil. Only she spoke of her occupation and I, too quickly, judged her as a Grado's hired rider." The islander kneeled and faced the ground beneath him as he said these words. Fiora would have rushed to make him rise if not the world has turn dark.

"That was a close one, don't you think?" The Frelian princess said as she rubbed the shaft of her lance, the place that hit the outlander pegasus knight. "L, lady Tana, that was one of the allying forces." Cormag, with a grand quantity of astonishment in his voice, spoke to his superior as he stared at the unconscious pegasus rider. The girl tilted her head and made a face at the person she had just smacked. "Uh...that's not good. Maybe you won't tell her that it was me who hit her." Tana said to the wyverner with a worried smile. "Ah! Fiora! Farina!" a petite girl came running to the two lying soldiers. "What happened?" She asked. Tana looked to Cormag with the 'Save me' face. "Uh…some…eh…this thing, guy, person, attack your sisters and things happened. A long story. I'm terribly sorry for my lacking speed. It is at my fault that these two are injured." Not the brightest of excuses, but this had to do for now. "But my, Florina, I told you to stay put until I gave a signal." The Magvelian pegasus rider said. "I, uh, did wait for the signal. You, um, kind of waved your lance." _Florina, a nice name. _Cormag thought. "Lady Tana, have you gotten your word around?" The words triggered a reaction, a negative one at that, to be used by the Frelian. "Oh, I almost forgot! Florina, we have to go!" She grabbed the outlander by her wrist and rushed to the Frelian pegasus. Florina gave a unheard, to Tana, resistance which sounded like "I can ride Hooey" to Cormag. Even though the term "Hooey" was not in Cormag's dictionary, it was rather easy to guess it, the pegasus that now tailed the two riders.

The two disappeared out of Cormag's sight and when they did, the Grado knight look around him. There laid five immobile beings waiting to be cured by the wyverner. As he walked to his wyvern, his first patient, he grabbed his bag for his vulnery bottles. As he did, he murmured something to his wyvern. "Reglawi, I just learned something new. If Frelia ever starts a war with anyone while we live, I know whose fault it would be." The wyvern blinked curiously.


	17. The Unwelcomed

To disclaimers: All the work that is published as a chapter of Hector in Magvel are rightfully owned by Nintendo. Misuse of (as in disclaiming) any of these works can and will get me and you in trouble under copyrights.

To readers: Rather a long chapter right? I'm bored to heaven these days. Too much idle time. So I decided to get back on writing as well as other recreation activities. (The ones that involve AC and indoors) Enjoy.

SpeedDemon: Thank you for that note TT I can't believe I got that wrong. Another reason to get back on old games……

**The Unwelcomed**

**Louise, Nino, Rebecca, Priscilla, and Serra's Story**

It was, now that all the action has fled the ship, rather tranquil in the deck. Only the two, the bishop and the tactician, sat blankly staring at their patients. The use of magic for healing had all finished. Only time was left to mend whatever magic could not. Artur wished to start a friendly conversation with the healing tactician but feared that he would offend her in anyway with his lack of the outlander's cultural knowledge. So he held his tongue for politeness and Helen, due to her shyness, did the same. Time passed and the girl fell asleep on the Glacefrost user's arm. Faint but rapid footsteps sounded from far.

"_Helen, this is a dense forest. You have to look out for-" Silver, a master tactician, called to her pupil as she dazed straight into a low tree branch. "-branches." The tactician almost gave out a light laugh. "Well, at least it wasn't the rose bush." As the student tried to regain her balance, she backed into a thick bush of roses and its thorny branches. "Ah…!" The girl squeaked as her leg was slashed by the sharp thorns. "Helen! Don't move! I'll get you out of there!" the teacher came running as she elegantly evaded all of nature's obstacles. Helen forwarded and tripped on a tree root._

_"Are you feeling better now?" Helen nodded. "Well, now that you seemed to have experienced a 'dense forest,' you could start telling me how this would work in our field of studies." So she did. Helen was a swift learner. She pointed out every factor that might change a person or their steed's reactions and how dramatic each point might be in a real combat. "That's great. Only you for got one tiny fact." Helen gave the puzzled look. To enlighten her student, Silver pointed to a grassy spot right next to Helen. "The natives." When the meaning have hit, Helen turned her head to face the hidden factor which caused her irises to sharpen and her legs to jump up. "Ah! B, bugs!" She stood, immobilized by fear. There was an enormous spider near Helen's feet. Her emotion told her to kill it, but her conscience screamed negatively. "It's only a spider." And the tactician brushed the insect off of her paralyzed student. Helen looked the other way and tear welled in her eyes. "Wait, Helen. Don't cry. If you were scared of…eh…little critters, you should have told me." Silver embraced her student in her arms to sooth her…and…_

The tactician awoke by a heavy tapping on her shoulder. She turn around to learn of what the bishop had wanted and to her surprise, found a gigantic spider, as huge as a full stretched wyvern, sitting next to her. Her mind froze in an instant. "Lightning!" a male voice yelled and the spider was no more. "Miss Helen, are you okay? Please stand. We really need to flee." It took a moment to for the scene to die out, but when it did; the tactician was ready on her feet to do whatever was required to act out the pest control. "Miss, we have to go." Artur grabbed her by her hand and ran for the cabin doors and the bishop ran like no other man would in a clergy robe: fast. "What about Erk?" the girl asked. "Don't worry, Miss. They look too dead for the undeads to hunt for. They'll just be ignored by those monsters." The tactician fled without protest.

Lord Pent was not back yet and Louise lost her patience while waiting. She was also worried. Even though the pirates were very formal and kind to the Marquess' army, Louise could stop herself from worrying too much. It's been minutes in two digit numbers that the Mage General had promised a quick return after an alarming call from the deck. The archer only hoped that her husband was sound and safe as she headed for the deck.

She wondered the halls of the boat. She was as good in finding herself on a map of her home as she was in axe wielding. The fact that she was in an unfamiliar ship did not help in navigation. She walked a few aisles until she grew tired of her exploration. She stood, with closed eyes, leaning a wall and thought of all the turns she have taken after she left her room. She now regretted her choice of leaving her warm and cozy room. From her short meditation, she came to a conclusion that standing against a wall was not the best of problem solvers, so she headed towards where she faced. Taking a left turn, she came to a dead end. On her sides there were doors that read "Restroom." A tide of an odd sense of humor filled her as she turned around. She felt, or at least heard, the doors of a bathroom door open. She held her breath.

"I know who you are." A little girl's voice, a haunting little girl's voice at least to Louise, whispered softly. The voice carried weariness. The archer slowly turned and saw an empty dead end with bathroom doors on its sides. "Miss Louise?" the voice came again from her back. The sniper quickly turned. She screamed shortly in surprise as she saw a small hooded dark figure standing in front of her. She stood as a stone until she saw the lime green hair that was concealed by the hood. It was no more than Nino.

"Nino, you scared me!" the Mage General's wife only sounded too glad. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I was just going back to my room after using the…well…you know." The girl glanced at the bathroom. _Great, Nino can navigate this ship better than me. _"Oh and why were you wearing your hood?" the archer asked. "It was cold." The mage replied. _Of course. _"And Nino, did you hear anything from the upper floors?" As if it was cued, rapid footsteps sounded from their ceiling. Nino nodded. "Maybe we should go check it out." Louise suggested and the answer was affirmative.

"Why are we running into the ship?" the tactician asked. "I don't know." The reply was obvious since one did not run to close spaced area in a runaway. If the two kept heading for the lower decks, soon they would meet a dead end and it would be over. In a runaway, one should always run to an open area where choices are much more favorable. "The stairs! We have to go lower!" the bishop yelled. Helen obeyed quietly.

"There. Those are the stairs for mid and upper floors." The little mage pointed. The bowslinger smiled in gratitude and headed for the upper floor. However, a couple of figures rushed at her. The arrows did not fail to land on its place and was shot directly at the closest figure. The person fell right away and did not move. The second figure paused and screamed as Louise had when she saw Nino. "Lady Louise?" the figure called. "Helen?" the archer answered with a question. The tactician hesitated before greeting and was turning around when she was truck on the back. She also fell heavily on the floor and revealed the thing behind her: an enormous spider.

"Oh my…" the word left the archer mouth as she gazed at the numerous eyes of the monster. She was as fond of insects as the tactician and did not wish to convert anytime soon. Louise reached for her quiver and found it missing from her usual spot. She reared up slowly so that the huge bug would not start an idea of any spontaneous actions. Then, in a flash, she turned around and sprinted back to her room.

_It can't be serious. _The blonde archer said to herself. She stood in front of a dead end with doors on its sides that read "Restroom." "Miss Louise, where are we going?" If the Mage General's wife didn't know better, she would've jumped and screamed, a bit, at the faint voice coming from her back. However, she managed to control herself in time to muffle her scream. "Nino! Don't sneak up on people like that!" the lady said. Her swift heart beat grew faster. "But my older brother told me that I need to stay stealthy in battle." The green haired girl explained. "Um…older brother?" the archer asked for she was not too familiar with the little mage's relationship with the other comrades. "Jaffar." And Louise nodded in return. "Oh, Nino, do you know where my…my room is?" she blushed horribly but no one noticed in the dark hallway. "Don't you know where it is" the little girl asked. "Not really." The bowslinger turned redder. She was sure her face was even brighter than an Elfire.

There was a knock on the door. Or more like a crash. One of the two healers, the one in pink hair, walk to the door. "Who is it?" the cleric called as she yawned. She was just waken up by the person behind the door and was not in a good mood. There was no answer and this annoyed her further. Serra slammed the door open and as soon as she look at the knocker, she slammed it close. "Serra, who was that?" said the other of the healers, who now was woken up by the door slamming. "I don't know. I think it was a big spider." The pink haired cleric said sleepily. "P, Pardon?" Priscilla, who would but could not believe what she had just heard, asked again. "I said I think it was a big spider that was knocking-" Serra paused, focusing her mind. "I just said a big spider." "Yes you did." The valkyrie answered.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" the red haired healer asked. "No…but I wish I am." The bishop said. "But you weren't even opening your eyes when you opened the door." "Yes I was!" Serra yelled. A yelling, other than Serra's, sounded from outside; following it an explosion. Shortly after, the knobs on the door to the room rattle, as if one was trying to open the locked door from the other side. A muted murmur came from the hall, then a pair of knocks. This time both of the healers headed for the door. No one spoke a word to the knockers. The bishop gave a signal as she grabbed the door knob. The valkyrie nodded and readied a lightning magic. Serra slammed the door open once again and Priscilla fire without looking at who she was attacking. The other sided, however, did not. "Lightning! Lightning! Lightning! Lightning! Lightning!" the pink hair casted rapidly. A minute passed in calming of the berserk bishop and all was tired. The most popular phrase of the event was "They're not a spider!"

"That…was…some exercise." The lime green haired mage commented. "Mm hm." The valkyrie and the archer agreed. All were exhausted but the one with the huge mouth, Serra. "Wait…so this ISN'T my room?" The two stave wielders shook their head slowly. Louise let her head fall in disappointment. "Mrs. Louise…" the little mage said as she gently poked the archer's back. "Hm? What is it Nino?" The girl was standing in front of a door across of the healers' room. "I think this was your room. The one on the right." And how she was right.

The dark hallway was filled with suspense. The five, now that Rebecca have joined them who have woken up by the loud screaming and yelling of the healers, sniper lady, and the mage girl, walked towards fresh air. Serra and Priscilla shared an ear piercing exchange of "Are we there yet?"s and "No"s until the lime green haired mage threatened to draw her Elfire. As the five headed up, they encountered another grand spider which took only a matter of seconds to be taken down with a shower of ranged attacks. "Really, that Fargus person needs to get a fest inspection on his ship and soon." The bishop stated.

It took no big hardship, with four rightful navigators leading the group, to find the deck. However the deck was not what the party expected. The place was filled with the huge spiders, giant eggs that spewed dark aura, live winged-gargoyles, and devilish looking wolves. "Maybe we took a wrong turn back there." The sniper's humor did not amuse any of the ship dwellers. "Maybe…" the other archer said as she slowly grabbed for her bow and quiver. She saw that others reached for their weapons as well. A howl from one of the wolves triggered an attack, soon the rest followed.

Rapid fire of holy magic blinded the deck. However, the well trained archers' eyes pierced right through the light and struck the beasts right on their hearts. Even the young mage fought efficiently and sent many of the grounded monsters to ablaze. At a point, the valkyrie set off a torch with her staff to ensure greater range for the archers. A good 30 minutes passed since the massacring of monsters began. Little scratches and unnoticeable bruises were the only remains of the foes' efforts. Oh, and a little more: empty quivers and worn out casters. No one has thought of bringing spare arrows or refreshing vulneries. It was usually the tactician's job. Now that she wasn't there, the only good of them now were stalling time in the front lines. No one would give them ideas of vital attack formations or targets of importants or anything at all.

Rebecca and Louise each glanced at one another's quiver and saw it empty. The casters reached for their bags and found them to be vacant. Under such circumstances, the leaderless group knew exactly what to do: retreat. The five ran back to the lower deck. The thundering sound of their pursuers shook the wooden ship but barely woke any, partly because the crew stayed in an inn. "There it is! That's where Merlinus sleeps!" Louise said as she pointed directly at the other side of the hall. "It's locked!" Priscilla, who reached it the fastest, exclaimed with a decently worried look. The shortest, Nino, fiddled with the locked door as the two archers danced around a huge spider that almost filled the whole hallway until the door clicked open. The healers stared amazed but the mage lightly shrugged and said, "That's a requirement for a Black Fang." And the door slammed close, followed by a lock, after everyone who walked on two has entered.

"Wrong room." Nino said bluntly. The two holy mages noticed also. They were in the ship's kitchen. "Who led us……oh, I forgot." Rebecca, as well as the rest, gave a stare to the Mage General's spouse. "Oops?" the sniper was blushing madly. "Hm…what about those kitchen knives? Wouldn't they prove useful?" the pink haired girl suggested. To their conclusion came that the only way one was to find anything in the room useful unless they shared job studies with Matthew, Jaffar, Karel, or Hawkeyes, which none of them did. "Now, about the escape plan-" "Are you mad! We can't leave with all that monsters outside!" Serra was abruptly interrupted by her roommate. "Then what do you supposed we do? Wait until the morning?" Serra argued. "No, but I think it was time when we started a new profession ourselves." A somewhat wicked, so as it seemed, smile came across on the green haired archer's face. She held firmly to a frying pan.

The tactician woke up with a painful call on her back. She merely fought it back as she staggered around the ship's lower deck. She shot through a crowd of wolfish creatures with a lightning tome. She came to an end with a fairly big door that read "Kitchen." As she reached for the knob, all of a sudden, the door flung open with a roar that resembled war cries. The large wooden door crashed into the tactician and the impacted forced her off her feet. She landed on a wall before she found herself to be out cold.

The five were particularly surprised to find the entrance to be so vacant. There was a force of resistance while opening the door, but aside from that it was all quiet and well. On that note, the valkyrie, Priscilla, noticed the tactician down on the floor near the room and all came to conclusion that she must have been dragged here and was mended right away. The group then headed once again for the supplier's room with a new navigator, Nino. Gripping their kitchen utensils, the five ran once again.

It was not such a hard task to reach the Merlinus' room. Only 3 spiders blocked the way and the three were swiftly taken care of by some clever swings of fruit daggers by Serra and a vehement swing of a large pan by Louise. Nino made a remark on the mage general's future well beings, humoring everyone. And again, the little mage demonstrated her skills with a lock as she picked at the door. It was only a matter of seconds until the lock clicked open.

They entered the room with unnecessary stealth. To their disappointment, the room was dead empty. The merchant was no where to be found, the supply was gone and the room only had one table with only one piece of parchment on it. Rebecca snatched it off the deck and read it out loud. "A note to Marquess Phaerae and Marquess Ostia: Staying in a tavern for the night with the supplies." The words pierced the through the group's hope. Their only hope of a worth standoff was now gone. Only way to get some decent potions and a good quiver of arrow was to search for Merlinus or buy the goods themselves, which both required an escape plan. However, those two were the only chances of any standoff, and any chance was a good chance. The crew headed out.

The way out didn't seem as far as the last attempt, partly because the pathfinder was switched. However, it was only as hard as the attempt before without everyone's favored arms to hold on to. Serra ran around with two kitchen knives, and large ones at that, Rebecca settled with a frying pan just as Louise did, the mage took with her a rolling pin, and Priscilla preferred a sharpened bench scraper. Do call the teller a liar if you wish, but the kitchen utensils felt bonded with them. They rushed out of the wooden ship with astonishing speed. Swinging their weapons madly, they sliced a path through the infesting monsters. When they surfaced, they found themselves once again surrounded by the same army of creatures.

Serra's two daggers worked furiously in keeping the enemy off of its user. The daggers danced in a fluent manner that one would mistake the bishop for an assassin. The two archers' pans also smashed through many anatomical parts as they were forcefully swung around. Priscilla wielded the scraper as if it were an ax. It chopped through all that stood in its way and butchered all that lunged at it. The rolling pin batted its way to the exit of the ship until its holder noticed that all the monsters were already finished. They headed down the ramp that led to the harbor until they were stopped by two massive figures. One was armored in green iron and the other looked a lot like the warrior, Dorcas. "Don't move if you wish to remain together." Their lance and ax glared with death at the weary outlanders. "Sit and stay tranquil." The ax user directed them. "Hmph, all that work just so we can get captured easier. This-" Serra stopped as a javelin missed her head my an inch. The knight, although his eyes were concealed by his helm, stared at Serra in such a way that the healer could feel the look. That finally shutted the never-ending two bits.

From over the hill, Natasha tended to the red haired prince's wound. She dozed off quite a while but always was woken up by gentle breezes that rustled the shrubs outside. Her staff was where she could easily reach, just incase Joshua was to wake with another painful shock on his back. She heard another rustling of leaves. And so did Amelia, Ross, Franz, and Ewan. They crawled in the shadow as they attempted to escape the camp for a moment of adventure in the harbor. They moved as gentle and as silently as the breeze.


	18. The Angel and the Demon

For disclaimer: As the tradition goes, I'm supposed to say that you shouldn't disclaim my work since majority of the characters, all of the settings, and most of the ideas were from Nintendo. So if you disclaim this fanfic we, as in you and I, the disclaimer and the fanfic writer, get sued. I'm broke enough already. Don't disclaim for my sake.

For readers: This might be the last chapter for a long time since school, aka hell, is back and Salmagundi, my school's art and literary magazine, wants me to write 3 entries for every edition, which will probably take up a lot of my time. So yeah, sorry.

For fireemblemdoesn'trockanymor...: Come again? If you meant by the incident with Artur in the boat, you cant blame me for that. He got jumped. But if you mean the other chapters, I let FE8 do well at times but yeah, I'm a bit fond of FE7 more. But you cant expect me to be EQUAL in likings. I'm human, I prefer things more than others.

Wildfire: I just did D

Speed Demon: Yeah, when you write you'll know that the slower you type/write, more mistakes you make. Although typing is faster than writing, I still make mistakes. And kitchen utensils definitely pwn.

**The Angel and the Demon**

**Karel, Karla, Jaffar, and Legault's story**

The dispute that never ended between Legault and Karel wasn't destined for it resolved under their hands but by Karel and Jaffar. The dispute never settle since one sided did not wish to battle and the other's companion did not wish for the disputer to fight. "You goodie-goodie swordsmen couldn't take out a blind folded Black Fang even if he was unarmed!" the normal exchange of insults began with the Hurricane's attack. "Ah, look who it is. Isn't this the leader of Black Fang? The thief guild that fell apart due to horrible leadership?" Karel stood his ground in the debate. Legault absorbed it coolly and continued. "Look who's talking. I heard the Sword Demon wasn't much of a friend-maker himself." And the likely statements flourished when the two met. "Come on Legault. Lord Eliwood didn't deploy us to blabber all night." Jaffar mentioned lightly to his former guildsman. "Well, that tactician of his should've done a better job than this! How could she pair us up with the lousiest lots of sword dancing." No one took notice of the statement as they headed for the hills across the harbor, where supposedly the enmity camped.

"Hurricane, don't make a fool of yourself before the actual battle even begins." The Angel did not enjoy using his voice but around Legault, he seemed to be in need to do so for every action that the Black Fang committed. For now, the thief was juggling his daggers, one for each finger he had. "My only battle that contains juggling is with that sense of laughter Nino has." Legault caught all his daggers successfully in his hands and withdrew them into his back. "Hey, reject. Can I teach you a word?" The swordsmaster called at the thief and he replied. "What." "Bravado, it means foolhardiness." "Oh! Please cut it out, brother!" Karla nudged at her brother's side and silenced him. For 8 minutes. Eight minutes and 21 seconds to be exact, which was a record for the next two weeks.

Walking up the hill was a long way but not a difficult one. The hill was mostly covered grass and obstacles were the last of things expect on the leveled field. The only hesitation they received was from two well armored cavalier knights who asked for directions to the harbor. The four merrily went for the hunt across the moonlit hills for the encampment on the top, with deadly insults going back and forth from a certain thief and a swordman.

Now that he was also on his way, Gerik has made a grave mistake: forgetting to bring a map for himself. A warning voice alarmed in his head, the voice of his well-trusted guild member, telling him to buy selfishness with all the money he has earned through his profession. The point was that Gerik listened and thought of himself a bit more and a little less on the guild, but the swordsman's stubborn mind never hinged. _Oh well. How hard is it to found a harbor anyway? _The mercenary ran for the hills.

It was Legault's turn to insult when an unexpected swordsman called them with a "Ho there!" The surprised thief stopped at mid-sentence and turn to greet the fellow. "Hey there with a sword…and a shield…and looking very hostile." The Black Fang spoke in such a teasing tone that the swordsman didn't even hint the sincerity of the remark. "Heh, yeah. I guess I do scare people off sometime." He tilted his head to gaze at his sword even better and at a new angle, the moonlight revealed the hidden battle scars on the swordsman's face. "We're shaking in our sandals." Jaffar nudged his comrade for restriction of wits in front of strangers. "Yeah, so can I ask you where the harbor is?" Legault's natural aura of informality had the usual effect on the stranger's speech, which turned out to be useful at times. The four pointed with there thumb, over their shoulders to where the harbor laid.

Emitting a gratifying grin, the swordsman resulted himself on the guided road. They, of Eliwood's army, once again started for the encampment. And to the professional robber's surprise, an immense shield flew before his face. Jaffar was the first one to draw his blade and hide beneath the darkness of a shadow, taking stance without catching a visual deception. The previous swordsman stood with his left arm stretched out from the throwing and wearing a surprised look on his own face and these peculiar slipped through his lips. "That worked much better with Sir Harken." Fear of battle in an outnumbering match against people who were possibly better then him with the sword rooted in his heart. "Sir Gerik!" two male voices called from the summoned's back.

It was no other than the previous cavaliers who charged back to save their comrade, although that was the least of their intentions when they searched out for the mercenary. "Forde! Kyle! Draw your swords!" the veteran instructed and reply came as followed. "What was that?" Out of frustration, but unable to express it to the unfamiliar duo, he yelled out the instruction again, louder. As a form of joke, Forde, once again, replied the same. But the guild master saw that the two already had their lances in hand and aimed at their target as the cavaliers' steeds charged thunderously in the silent night. However, in a split second, a black phantom-like figure dashed across, in front of the rushing horses, which the action caused the royal steeds to jump in fright that dropped both of the armored cavaliers on their back and flat on the floor.

Lying on the floor, being as vulnerable as a knight can be, Kyle and Forde were at the mercy of their assailant and all knew the assailants were the last definition of mercy. The well-seasoned veteran mercenary quickly covered ground to aid the two knights as they stood up. "Draw another on your shield arm." Gerik ordered his two men. The knights quickly drew a sword with their left and steadied their pose to brace an off-horse battle, which came so rarely that only their swords practice ever let them to be a normal infantry. For the rest of their careers, Forde and Kyle were lancers on cavalier's line.

The Sword Demon charged at his full speed with his drawn blade aiming at one of the knights. "Lances up!" Kyle called to his partner as he always did in a retaliation charge and Forde, as always, lifted his lance to a piercing angle. Even seeing this, the swordman did not slow his charge. Rather, Karel quickened his pace. "Now!" as the two cavaliers yelled, Gerik quickly slashed for the swordmaster and found himself swinging at thin air. "What…!" the mercenary also let an awkward expression to surface on his face while he staggered, trying to regain his balance. The position was quickly rearranged as the two knights swiftly stood another ground to cover their falling comrade. The battle hastened.

Karel, his real image, kicked blonde knight's unarmored portion of the leg and caused him to fall on his knees. Still paralyzed from the shock of the impact, Forde took no notice of the vertical fall of the Sword Demon's sword. Kyle was only too glad to parry it with his lance. Gerik was also kept busy by Legault and Karla as soon as balance returned to his feet. The nimble thief put himself to work and occupied the majority of the mercenary's concentration with his fancy daggersmanship. Karla let herself be shown only at times of perfect chances. Only when Gerik seemed to be off his pattern, she would commit a blow that would penetrate the guild master's guard and land a blow. Then, she would hide once more until such opportunity arrived again.

Kyle and Forde were bested by Karel and Jaffar. The two knights blocked with all of their efforts just to stop the fatal blows from breaching. The minor ones that occasionally found its way were endured. The two swordsmen attacked from all sides with defying speed that led the two knights to believe that there was numerous more enmity then just the two, Karel and Jaffar. Jaffar's two daggers danced furiously in the assassin's hands in the twisted attacks it dished out. Karel, with his impetuous blitz overwhelmed the two knights. The unending attacks, slashing everything in its path, chipped and cleaved the cavaliers' shields. The vigorous exercise of blocking deeply sweated Kyle and Forde. The heave armors encased the growing heat from movement and the heat seduced greater amount of sweat to surface, soaking the two Renais knights.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea." A small, orange armored knight crept through some short shrubs, following her two companies. "Ewan, slow down a little." Ross called from behind. The journeyman was still having problems roaming at night. The nimble little mage sliced through the woods like a muramasa. And then, he stopped. Rather frozen right on his spot, unable to move and sitting as still as a stone. "What's wrong?" Amelia asked as she caught up to the red haired mage. She also fell silent as a rock when she reached Ewan. "What's up with you two. Let's keep moving." Ross, the last one to actually reach the climax of the hill, also saw what the knight and the magician saw. It was a heartbreaking and a stunning scene for the young.

Murderous slashes showered Forde and Kyle. Cuts on their armors and shields were casted on them like tight nets. It was fairly clear that the armored knights were being pushed back with forces beyond their level. It took the final of Kyle's courage and Forde's folly to deliver a monumental blow. Kyle, at first, tossed his lance to Forde as Forde handed his blade to his partner. As soon as the trade was through, the blonde haired knight whirled with both arms out-stretched. Karel and Jaffar gladly stepped back for the berserk cavalier to end his twirl. Regaining his stance from the duck, Kyle lunged swiftly at the assassin with his swords held high. Jaffar's skillful evasion allowed only one minor scratch to land on his left arm. Cursing under his breath, the Black Fang leader continuously dodged the two handed knight's sword swings.

Kyle was fast with his arms but he still had limits. His arms tired quickly under the weight of two steel swords. As the attacks slowed, it gave more time for Jaffar to retaliate every attack. And with Forde overwhelmed by the Sword Demon, the situation was back to square one. In frustration and anger, Forde tossed his shield at the Death Angel just as Gerik had tried, which missed by a mile. Kyle also hurled his shield and it was lost in the darkness of the night. Before the shields were out of sight, the two cavaliers assaulted furious, using the last of their strengths. Only too easily, Karel parried both of Kyle's blades and riposted. Jaffar dodged the tips of the two lances, opening a vulnerable point on Forde; the assassin jabbed right away. The swordsmen landed right one target. The heavy armors weighted burdenously upon the knights, thus giving out a loud thud as the two cavaliers fell.

It was a miracle of a sort. Two shields, out of the blue, came flying and nailed the two foreigners right on the head. It happened so fast that Gerik stood there dumbly for a few moments, but when reality struck him by, he knew the battle was, in an odd way, won. _Now to thank the two lads._ Gerik walked to where he thought the two Renais knights would be and as usual, he was right. The only unexpected of the scene was that Forde and Kyle were down. One vital wound per knight. Weapons stills in hands, the two cavaliers went down with their honor, although it was not comprehensible to the mercenary about knightly chivalry. Gerik mourned lightly for the two fallen knights as he chased after an Angel and a Demon, fighting side by side.


	19. What was Plan H?

To Disclaimers: The characters that are starred in my fanfics are direct properties of Nintendo. Disclaiming of my fanfic will get you and me in trouble. I don't like that.

To readers: I am so sorry. Its short but it took a while. School started and things happened, guilds broke down and I got real busy. The good thing is I'm ranked 8th place in New York City in boys varsity fencing for wins count and 4th place for touches. Guess who I am? Of course I wrote my next chapter for my two favorite couple, the Dynamic Duo, the Wonder Dummies of FE: Guy and Matthew. Have fun!

To SpeedDemon: Jaffar talks, and sings, in the showers. And getting hit isn't as bad as waking up after getting hit XD

To FE8betterthenFE7: Kewl, thanks for understanding my flaws in life. 0

**What was Plan H?**

**Guy and Matthew's story**

"Can't you do at least THIS for me?" a light brown haired thief wrapped in a red cloak pleaded to a swordsman. The swords-wielder shook his head lightly. "Not even a little, tiny, small request coming from a dear friend?" The reply was once again, the same. "Matthew, how many times have you used that trick on me?" Guy, who was clearly frustrated by the thief's words, asked bluntly. "34." The red cloaked thief answered without giving much of a thought. "You counted them?!" the Sacaen was definitely amused by the given reply. "Of course. I like to keep track of my magnificence." Matthew spoke influently. With an essence of disbelief, Guy shook his head as he turned around. "Guy, really. I NEED you help. I can't do this without you. Help me out." The thief grabbed the swordsman by his shoulders and stared into his eyes with his most sincere look. The Sacaen could do nothing but give in.

"We are definitely lost." Guy sighed as he looked around. It was just like the other block, pitch black with similar looking builds surrounding them. "Hey, look! It's an opening to the main road." Matthew directed. The two ran ahead in hopes of finding the imported goods storage house. The reasons were quite clear for both sides and the will of the two were as immense as ever. However, the 'way' did not cross upon the two poor partners in crime. As they immerged from the small corridor of the harbor's town, they saw that the two were back at their ship. "Holy daggers of a cross assassin…!" Matthew gasped the words as he looked the situation.

The day could not have been worse for Guy. As soon as he saw his captured comrades, he rushed in to aid them, only to be aimed at with a hand ax. He nimbly dodged that projectile and charged at his assaulter. However, he was easily struck on his back with the rear end of a spear. Matthew came to aid him with daggers flying. The attempt was sadly put away by the thick and heavy armor of the knight who wielded the lance. The knight moved in inhuman speed and might. With the handle of the lance, the knight in rich green armor pinned the swift thief on to the floor. The other of the enmity, the one who hurled the ax, put quick works of Guy. With a forceful war cry that rang through the night, the axe wielder disarmed the Sacaen and held him to the mercy of his weapon. "I knew I should've bought that lancereaver." Guy breathed out.

The knight directed the swordsman with his lance and Guy moved obediently, trying not to look similar to a Swiss cheese. Matthew also regrettably followed the orders and stood besides some other poor captured souls. "Matthew?!" one of the prisoners called out. Matthew screamed his life out.

"What was that." The knight came over and questioned. His voice was as cold as the night that surrounded them. "I…its nothing." Guy answered with a nervous smile on his face. The Sacaen was covering the thief's mouth with the back of his hand. Guy felt his friend trembling under his arm. The green armored knight walked away with his lance tucked at his side. As soon as the knight was gone, Guy whispered to Matthew, "What's wrong with you?" Matthew, still shaking, pointed in horror. There stood the renowned Serra along with her others.

"So…we go along with the plan B?" after a brief conference of the escape plan, the swordsman made sure. Matthew nodded and gave a signal of approval. Guy hurried to Serra, who set near their capturers, with his hands tied at his back like any other captive would be. "Serra, I was admiring your hair from back there. You must tell me, how do you keep it so straight and…uh…" Guy searched for the right word in his mind. Out of the blue, the healer interrupted the Sacaen and started the lecture of her beauty. Her stamina with the tongue was breath taking. The potentials of her vocals knew no end. Serra's speech seemed to last for eternity, just like the Universe and stupidity. It was only too soon for someone to lose their patience and burst out, "Shut that thing, will ya!?" And it did happened, enough to distract everyone who was present from what he or she was doing. The only dilemma of the scene was that it was Matthew who popped out of a shrub and screamed it out. Realizing his error, Matthew looked to analyze the situation, as everyone else had. An awkward silence drew into the place. "Plan C." The thief said as he rushed with a small dagger, which was hidden under his belt, to Guy.

In an instant, the nimble thief slashed the very rope that bound his partner and made a quick dash. With lethal agility, Guy also ran for his sword, which he grasped in time to draw it and parried a jabbed spear just in time. The swordsman's dexterous hands landed on a couple of knives that lay near his swords and hurled them desperately at the green armored knight. The tiny kitchen utensils lightly bounced of the heavy and thick armor, making the grand knight grin mocking under his helm. The attempt was petty, but the time bought by the hurled tools was invaluable. It gave Guy enough seconds to banish into the shadows of the night where his friend hid, waiting.

"What took you so long?" Matthew said with a half guilty look on his face. He clearly knew his faults that threw off the plan and now sat as he realized how "helpful" he had been to his friend.

"So, how is our Plan C doing?" Guy spoke, as he saw Matthew's hint of self-resentment, a rare emotion released by the thief, with caution so not to offend Matthew. A quick conference was made by the two as Matthew admitted Plan C was only of an escape plan. The thief adopted the plan D as a resolution against the two well seasoned warriors that held captive their "monsters" in distress. When the two were through, they had a perfect scheme that will lead them out of their troubles, hopefully.

Gilliam and Garcia were taken quietly well by surprise. The escapade of the two swordsmen was a huge flaw of overconfidence. Of course their battle experience could not go without notice, but the swiftness and wits of the two were almost lethal. If it were for the big mouthed girl in pink, the two would have definitely bested the two veterans in escaping, maybe even more. The two Magvelians surely expected the two outsiders to return for the captives. It wasn't something a comrade does to his fellow who was in need. Gilliam noted his companion in war and Garcia quickly drew a sword in his shield hand. Gilliam reached for his, but found it missing from the scabbard. Rather, it laid on the floor, unclaimed. He quickly picked it up and gripped it firmly. Gilliam swung it for a test, and it whistled a chilling note. He was ready.

Gilliam and Garcia were known for their keen foresight of enemy tactics. And their prediction told them the two would return shortly for the girls. However, the two Magvelian did not realize the abnormality of their opponents. Matthew and Guy did not arrive in any form of hurry, sort of. A disturbance of a near by shrub caught the attention of the two soldiers. From it came a rather loud whisper that said, "Wait, this isn't mine!" Gilliam and Garcia were left speechless at the clumsiness of the foreigners. Gilliam slowly approached the shrub with his lance pointing forward. Garcia backed him up with his weapons held in a stance. Gilliam swiftly jabbed into the bush and disappointingly received no reply of astonishment. The knight recovered his spear, or tried, but some force of else kept the heavy soldier from retrieving the lance back to his guard stance. With inhuman reflexes, Gilliam released his lance and drew his ax from his side. A grunt was heard from behind the bushes.

Gilliam took haste and chased the spear into the bushes, swinging his giant ax and removing the grounded tree. As the bush was tossed aside, a dark green haired boy, at the verge of turning into manhood, sat with a lance in his hand and a sword in the other. The green knight swung his immense ax straight down at Guy, giving him enough time to block only with his sword. The strength of the knight total crushed the swordsman's defense and the pressure of the weapon on the sword came unbearable down upon Guy. The Sacaen dropped his sword from his numbing hands and let the attack to continue. With a precise work of his foot, Guy raised the scabbard of the sword and instantly halted the ax. From his back, Garcia charged in with his shield to aid his comrade in taking down the vulnerable victim who has not recovered yet from the previous assault. A flash of red blinded the veteran's eyes and in a second, Garcia was falling, shield first. Guy, in the most gratifying moment of his companionship with the thief, stared amazed at Matthew's slide tackle. However, the thief gave an odd expression with a cocked eye brow and said, "What are you staring at? Plan E."

The skirmish was over but Guy's blood stilled ran like a flooding river. The swordsman meditated in order to regain his calm. "I can't believe I let Plan H come out." Matthew said heavily and laughed out loudly, and Guy joined in.

"Are you two alright? No wounds or anything?" At first, Matthew alarmed at a female voice but noticing that it was Priscilla, one of the quieter of the crowd, he ease. Rather, Guy straightened his back and started missing words in his sentences. It was only through Matthew's mercy that Guy was relieved from the troubadour's presence, but following it, Gilliam entered the conversation with a short but standing greeting. "Hey."

"Hey! You're knight person! It's such a relief to have you on OUR side." The thief blurted out but the knight showed no change in emotion, just nodded.

"Really, I thought I was gone for good while matching your weaponsmanship. Especially after you picked your spear back up…

_…And swung the lance madly at the nimble Matthew. The spear tip missed by a cloth length and pierced the thief's magnificent cape. "Whoa that was-!" Before he was able to say another word, the green knight had his both hands occupying the lance after tucking his ax back to his side. Matthew's skilled assailant kept his distance from the agile thief and jabbed as he disengaged his tip, making it much difficult for Matthew to dodge. Soon, the blonde haired thief was reduced to defending only, not even given a chance to strike. He gave a quick glance to Guy and saw that his swordsman friend was pretty much preoccupied with the warrior. Matthew refocused onto his own problems and found the perfect solution. "Guy! Plan F, turn and do the plan F!"_

_The swordsman quickly fled his battle and came to help the falling thief. It was not such of a bright maneuver to turn your back to your opponent, but the worst Garcia could do to the light footed Sacaen was throwing a hand ax at him, which could easily be dodged or blocked. The grand warrior drew his SwordSlayer, one of his most treasured pieces of arm, and chased after Guy._

_"Guy! Make it quick! I can't stall all day!" Matthew desperately kept the knight busy with his quick movements and attempts in getting close enough to actually attack the Frelian. Matthew advanced in closer and kept his space between the keen tip of the blade-like end of the spear. Although he was clearly away from any fatal wounds that can be caused by a lance, the red cloaked thief made sure his was also safe from a bashing from the pole of the spear, which proves to be quite pain, you see. And the closed space now created made it harder for Matthew to dodge in a sacrifice to pressuring the knight. Matthew was no longer just avoiding the hits, his daggers, one on each hand, blocked the attacks half of the time. Matthew desperately waited for Guy's move to be made, which he did just in time._

_Guy dived into the battle with his blade in his left. The skilled swordsman lightly passed the lance and headed straight for the legs, where the armor wasn't as heavy. Guy reached forward as the knight stood unprotected and in shock until Guy grabbed something from his side and fled like a gale. Matthew stood astonished, almost paralyzed, at the blunt loss made by his friend. Guy proudly held up his trophy and said, "I got it back Matthew! I think I could win now." He held his killing edge proudly as Matthew stared and whimpered a quiet "Mission failed." The two Magvelian stared in a form of awe at the impossible swordsman._

_Guy did not take notice of the three's opinions and once again rushed, this time to strike, the knight. Gilliam readied himself and took his usual guardian's stance by kneeling on one side with his lance held up. It was Guy's perfect chance. The swordsman betted to himself that not one person in this continent has seen his master piece of a footwork and he decided to enlighten them with a little performance. Guy kicked off the ground with a might that drew dust from the hard ground of the harbor and spun rapidly as he approached the green knight. His sword danced furiously and knocked the lance out of its path. The force, and a great one at that, disarmed the armored warrior of his spear and left him total defenseless. Guy kicked once more with his back leg and headed directly at the Magvelian. The sword struck the knight hard on his check and slashed the thick armor until there was a little chipped mark. To Guy's surprise, the sword snapped in half._

_"There goes G. Do the F! Pull the F maneuvere!" Matthew quickly turned to run but was blocked by a colossus of a fighter. His immense body and aura of Excellency stunned the thief in his place. Coming back to reality, the blonde haired Ostian, at least by oath, side stepped in an incredible speed and managed to escape the warrior, temporarily. Garcia chased him on and hurled a tomahawk with his vehement arm. Matthew saw too late and barely knocked the ax out of path with his dagger and the momentum of the weapon stole the little balance he had while sprinting. Luckily, the thief landed on his hand and acrobat to a nearby bush. He concealed himself visually and moved like a wraith. Garcia did not bother to fetch his tomahawk, or to search the shrubs, for that was a way to hand his neck over to a thief, especially ones like Matthew._

_Garcia was tense. He felt the warrior blood boiling inside of him. He was ready to scream out and take down the thief any moment. And at that moment, a breaking of a twig was heard from his back and Garcia turned to face whatever it was, which was vast emptiness. Out of the blue, his vision was filled with crimson red and only crimson red. He felt the texture of the cloth on his face and in horror, realized it was the red cloak._

_Matthew was proud of his achievement with his plan H. He had fooled the ax wielder totally with a distractive sound. Matthew hesitated to analyze the situation deeply and jabbed his daggers. However, the giant warrior swung his two battle ax, each in his hands, as if he was stretching wings of a bird. Matthew took a quick step back and lunged in to attack. Then, a third ax blocked his path. "Matthew, chill and put that little toy away." Pirate Dart came to his rescue…_

Gilliam chuckled lightly at the recollection of the moments of the battle. To the two youth, the memories were thought back with shutters of fear. "Aye, it was a good thing that Dark came in time to stop our duels or it would've been over for my sidekick." Matthew nodded at Guy, who gave back a friendly glare. Garcia, who was listening from far gave a hearty laugh and joined in the conversation.

And all for the four combatants in war were safe and sound, from each other. Legends speak of the Brutal Serra, the greatest mouth in the world, and the plague bringing attitude of her's that brought disturbance to the resting four warrior, in the darkest parts of the Renais Library.


	20. Formance Magna Carta

Disclaimers: Read previous chapter for my note.

Readers: Yes, I did lag a bit and I did a bit poorer than usual. But you know, I got to start my novel sometime. I've done few chapts for it, and I'm a bit proud of my plot for it. And I know I'll finish Hector on Magvel. And this isn't the final, not until the fat lady sings. (figuratively, lol) So enjoy, there is more to come.

**Formance Magna Carta**

**Hector and Eliwood's Story**

"C'mon lad, get up!" a thundering roar woke the Marquess Phaerae who was knocked out near the Ostian. The powerful and merry voice of Wallace was ever so overwhelming. Eliwood soon saw that Hector was already up and brushing off the dirt on his fine royal blue cape. Then the Ostian drew his Armads by its handle and watched his friend as he readied himself also. Eliwood found his rapier and the Durandel in their rightful scabbards and his lance sitting beside him. "Hey Hector, have you seen my horse?" The Phaeran lord looked around for his white stallion which was no where to be found. "Should I go search for it, lad?" It was a surprisingly kind request coming from Wallace, so the Marquess allowed the knight to go. The silver armored general dissolved in the dark fog of the night and was out of the eye's reach.

"Say, where's our security guards?" Indeed the two knights, Marcus and Oswin, were missing from their usual post. "Don't worry, those two will show up. If they can hold off a dragon, they can withstand ANYTHING." Hector said as he recalled the final battle in which his army was to bring down the red dragon after Ninian banished two all by herself. Of course the ancient Athos was an immense help, Marcus, Oswin, and Wallace's valor was to be noted for. The three were the only to charge at the beast head-on and attempt to wound it. Most of the army tried nimbling their way towards the dragon's blind area and striking its vitals.

From the shadows of the night, a neighing of a horse trilled in the air. "Hey, maybe Wallace found your steed." Hector said as he fully armed himself and double checked. "I've finally found you, outlanders." The voice was too light to be Wallace's. The figure cleared and showed a lean knight with a deadly lance at his hand. "I believe that should be my line, assassin. How dare you attack an undeclared opponent?" Hector glared fiercely as he talked. "Undeclared? We shall see who has the fault of cause in this battle, but first, let us ride out this storm." The teal haired knight drew his weapon and took stance. The Armads wielder took his ax out and mumbled a few swears.

The two were clashed in a battle even before Eliwood's rapiers were out. The magnificent weapons flared a spark in the darkest of the night and rang the notes of numberless dirges. The long lance jabbed the air furiously as Hector blocked each of them with the swing of his two swords. In a sudden counter, the blue armored Ostian performed an Octave and knocked the Magvelian's weapon out of line. It was the marquess' chance to lunge in for the attack with his other sword. However, Hector's blade was kept down at ground level and did not rise. "Foible en Forte, if pirates know what that means." There was a lady, fully armed and ready, on a horse, parrying down Hector's sword. "You islanders have no sense of chivalry. I thought taking advantage of number in a duel was a no-no." Eliwood had his Durandel at the neck of the girl.

The girl's steed jumped right away and kicked the poor Pharaen Lord on his chest. Eliwood was knock few feet off his foot and was sent flying to a tree. The fencer was on his knees, gasping for breathe. "Eliwood!" Hector turned to rush to the Phaeran's aid, however the lancer stood in his way. "Your bout is with me, so focus." The armored knight blocked blows after blows as he helplessly watched the rider approach his comrade. "Focus, you pirate!" The spear raged much fiercely and the battle became much intense. Hector could not mind for Eliwood anymore as he was forced to guard his own neck. Hector, with his dense gauntlets, took hold of the upper hilt of the Reginleif. "Hya!" and the Magvelian was hurled into the air. The Renais' prince landed lightly on his feet and said with satisfaction. "Much better."

"Aw…you cheap little…!" Eliwood slowly rose from his spot, supporting his weight on his rapier as a cane. The girl quickly dismounted and drew another sword. "I remember you. You were that guy from the armory, no?" She removed her helm, revealing her light teal hair. His breathing was very steady now and he pulled his rapiers out and sheathed his Durandel. "Aw, this isn't fair. You have four swords that I have to disarm. How did they know I can't hit girls?" Eirika took no notice of the marquess and rushed her attack. The red haired Phaeran parried hastily. The outlander binded his blades onto Eirika's and kicked her hand exactly where the hilt was. The teal haired girl quickly let go of her sword which Eliwood kicked into a shrub. "One down, three to go."

Eirika easily whipped out another rapier. Her other hand wielded a silver sword. The red haired fencer lunged highly. As reflex, the Magvelian beated the sword out of line and went in for a riposte. However, Eliwood quickly forced her blade down with his other sword and pressured it further with his front foot. His lunging sword was quickly brought back to his guard stance as he lightly jabbed for Eirika's right arm. The girl tried to pull away, but was not successfully able to bring her sword with her. The Phaeran Lord once again kicked it towards a tree, away from the battle. "Two more."

Wounds were many and valor was high as the two knights clashed. Hector's sword and ax swung wildly, the blades searching for Ephraim. The Renaisian avoided every attack brilliantly and swiftly. His spear landed quickly and returned for another attack which all was intercepted by the dense and thick armors of the Ostian. Neither side looked worn nor tired, but rather readier to perform a higher quality of combat. The blue haired knight resheathed his two weapons and drew his grand ax, Armads. "Nice." Ephraim murmured. The sight of Hector's amazing arms tempted the teal knight. Ephraim threw his killer lance aside and drew his Siegmund.

The ax-wielder crashed in with impetuous force, barely blocked by Ephraim's handy lancersmanship and his amazing footwork. The recoil of the lancer's guard numbed Hector's hands severely. Without losing a chance, the Magvelian thrusted his spear deeply. The tip landed right on Hector's thigh. However, the well armed Ostian was briefly saved by his side guard which covered his thigh. Ephraim's attack pierced the metal plate rather than flesh. Hector grabbed his hand ax and hurled it at the islander. Ephraim swiftly dodged out of the weapon's way and stepped back. The Ostian kicked his Armads back to his hand and rushed again, aiming for the teal haired knight's legs. The lancer jumped over Armads and reached higher with the help of his Siegmund. Ephraim swung his lance forcefully downward. The tip of his spear slashed near the blue knight's torso. "Augh! Why you…!" The helm of the general splitted in half and landed on the stoned floor of the harbor with a loud clang. Hector's focus became greater as his armor reduced. Hector drew his silver sword and held it on his left. Berserk awaited Ephraim. The Lord who fought a King

"And that leaves one." Eliwood said triumphantly at his art of disarming. Another sword was kicked away from battle and one rapier rested on the girl's side. However, as she drew her final sword, she took something else out, a dagger. "I really didn't want to do this, but you don't give me a choice." Eirika took stance and got ready for a different type of fencing, one Eliwood wasn't too familiar with: Florentine Fencing.

The Magvelian's sword lunged in and the red haired fencer tried parrying. However, the dagger caught the sword, underhanded. For a dagger does not have a foible, Eliwood's rapier was moved easily aside. The Sieglinde glided right across the red hair's breastplate. "Ah! What kind of style is that? Daggers and swords? That's so unchivalrous!" The Marquess complained as the sword lunged for his neck. Eliwood dodged it without a problem but the different pattern of attacks made by Eirika threw the fencer off guard. The Magvelian soundlessly continued her lines of assault with her swift jabs and quick lunges. This time, Eliwood attacked the girl aiming at the dagger. The Renaisian flicked her wrist, just enough so the blade would run without touching the fencer. Just before the parry arrived, Eliwood quickly disengaged, dodging the dagger and continuing to attack. "Epee!" The tip aimed lower and pierced Eirika's defenseless leg. The only garment that covered her leg was her long stockings, which were not too useful against swords. The girl fell with a loud piercing cry.

"Ahhh!" The two yelled as they swung their weapons which clashed with a great luminous spark. Hector's sword and Ephraim's silver lance both broke in half with their last blow. The two were gasping for breath, crouching as their strengths could not support the weight of their armor. The two dragged their weapons until they met face to face, and fell to their exhaustion. In their hands were the Armads and the Siegmund.

"Eirika!" A girl's voice rang from the high. A Pegasus knight, followed by few more, landed near the two fencers with their lances pointing at Eliwood. The marquess quickly disarmed himself and raised his two hands. The girl analyzed the situation, first glancing at Eliwood's bloody rapier and then the fallen renaisian. "..! Lord Eliwood!" A familiar voice called the Phaeran Lord, dismounting and advancing towards him. It was no other than the timid Pegasus knight, Florina. As soon as the others saw Florina approach Eliwood, others lowered their arms and one mended Eirika's wound with a bottle of elixir. Tana introduced herself and began her long story of the mix-up.

"Wait! Where is Hector?" The fencer suddenly remembered his friend and the teal knight that was fighting him. Everyone looked up, surprised. Some were already ready to take off and search for the two proud heroes. And some already have.


	21. The Prowess

**For disclaimers: take notes from the previous chapters.**

**For readers: I haven't died yet. I still write. I just had a net-less week after moving. But that gave me enough time to actually write coughcough Have fun. The end is coming soon.**

**Prowess**

**Wallace and Pent's Story**

"Damn those over-grown donkeys these scrawny so-call-'knights' ride these days. What happened to that valiant charging with a full armor and the brave hand-to-hand combats? I swear these cowardly tactics used by cavaliers these days…the only chivalrous cavalier I've ever seen in my life was Marcus. Now there is a man who has it all: honor, strength, skills, and a quiet remorseful singing voice." The cheery veteran spoke loudly in the quiet night of the harbor. "Haha! What have we here? I hope you can fight as well as you advertise yourself in the climax of night." A built figured came into sight. He was not too tall of stature but his long green beard, his worn-out armors, and the heavy looking axe gave away his strength as if an aura would. "I've seen emblems such as yours and I have not kept the bearer as my ally. Nor will you be." The berserker rushed quickly, drawing his humongous ax. Wallace also grabbing his own and blocked the heavy blow. "Ha! I haven't seen such strength from my opponent in years!" The two were growing much enthusiastic.

The swinging of the axes sliced the air and the crashing of the weapons rang in the air. The two did not hint of backing away, attacking with all their might. Each attack that passed to the floor dented it greatly, splashing fragments of stone all around. The fiercest battle seemed to go on forever with weapons that a normal man could not even dream of holding, the fight raged. "Try my blade for a change!!" The silver knight struck his giant axe straight down and clashed with the berserker's axe. In an instant, the defender's weapon snapped into two, but like wise, Wallace's axe's head also detached and flew away. "Hah, what great humor has our battle led us to! Only in a while have I seen MY weapons break in combat." Wallace drew his lance and only saw that his enemy already had his other axe out. "Aye, sir knight. It will be a sad victory for me to slay a truthful knight as you, but my lords will not take kindly in trespassers. May your luck hold you until sun rise, haha." The dark green haired berserker, plated in his orange armor, crashed his weapon downwards. In a few moments, their weapons would shatter, but before the time came, their show was one with a thousand awes.

"This is solely impossible. I haven't seen a sign of life for a while. It is only so tempting to return to the ship, and maybe I should. Lady Louise may be waiting for my arrival, with her sleepless distress. Yes, I will return." A paled haired man finished his sentence and closed his book. It was not a time, much too small to be one. It was leather covered and light. The book was old but scented, carrying many memories of the past. It read "Diary." Pent had been keeping a diary throughout his whole life since he was 13. His new book started as soon as the party had docked on this island and continued on. Pent replaced his quill pen and ink into his bag and retrieved his Elfire tome. "Stop, you force of evil! This is the last night you draw breath!" The voice rushed him with a barrage of projectile magic. Pent quickly turned and shielded himself with his cloak, gifted to him by the legendary Athos. It was forged by Athos himself and his highly recognized friend Alimere, a tailor of his own arts, for his wedding gift. Of course Pent was not as well known of a name in those days, but being a Lord and a sorcerer at that, Athos took great interest in him even in his early years. The cape was full of magic and surprises. For one, the cape was made of a specially threaded material, a masterpiece of its work, which was known to keep its magic even after being processes. In addition to that, Athos himself had enchanted the cloak to shield any harmful magic from reaching Pent. With the two amazing magics at work, the cloaks only permeable offense was the S ranked magics, such as the Forblaze which not many could wield. The projectile magic was easily blocked by his cape.

"Lightning!" the voice yelled again, and a shot of lightning flashed on the cloak, harming neither the garment nor the bearer. By the second shot, the erudite mage figured the direction of the attack. To where he thought his enemy was, elfires were bombarded. He did not expect his attacks to hit but rather to frighten off the person. After another round of attacks, Pent stopped and waited for the smoke from the elfire to clear up. When the dust had subsided, it revealed a horsed character that he had never been familiar with. "Evil doers of the foreign realms, thou shall perish from thou defiled deeds! Lightning!" Three shots of the magic propelled off the cape and dispersed in the air. "Ah! So pure of evil that my magic is repelled from your very presence! I shall mend that shortly. Divine!" The magic was stronger, but not enough to match that of neither Athos nor Alimere. "Stop this nonsense. This level of sorcery is beyond your understandings. Elfire." Now that the target was well and visible, Pent shot a bolt of Elfire. L'Arachel, for one with a bloating sense of pride, could not help to feel humiliated by a mere trend of clothes. To return the favor, she tested her cloak to the magic, hoping her magic was enough to block the Count of Reglay. Sadly enough, it did not. The cape caught the raging fire and was removed just before it reached the collars. "Not too bright, but brash."

L'Arachel was not taking the battle terms too well and as her cloak was devoured by the fire, so did her final patience. "I see, so you wield a high leveled evil inside you? I shall head you on with something of the same level." The valkyrie was no longer in her right state of mind and logic played no part in her battle. If given the choice, she would've been running around with two battle axes in her hands. Pent did not expect any serious harm but just to keep his neck safe, the sage held his legendary cape close. "Beat this! The strongest divinity magic known to men!" It was unlikely, but there was always a chance.

The two axes crashed once again and shattered. "That ends the stock for me." Dozla announced, unarmed. "So am I! So evenly matched in strength, I never the day would come." Wallace said, declaring his own lack of weapons. On the ground were shards and pieces of their broken axes and lances. "Then why not we say that we hastily end this in a battle of pure brawns. Fist to fist." Dozla suggested and a hearty answer rang back. "Hah! The best quote I've heard all month!" The silver knight did not expect to triumph without a struggle. However, the struggle was interrupted by nothing more than an army of Baels.

"Thunder." The bolts landed close to the valkyrie. L'Arachel was too busy keeping track of the magic being shot at her; she had no time to caste her own. Ivaldi was sealed completely by the quick casting sage. Pent continued to dish out his attacks as he nimbly chased the horsed magician. "Elfire! Thunder! Lightning! Elfire! Fire! Divine!" The endless chain of attacks overwhelmed the steed as it pranced just enough to dodge the magic. "Hah! You think those kind of lame tactics can work on my superior team works of my steed and me?" As she blurted the words out, Pent quickly spelled out three well aimed lightnings. One aimed for the front leg, the other for the head, and the last one for the rider. The horse jumped and evaded the ones aimed at it, but as it did, L'Arachel was struck with the last lightning which hit her stomach as the result of the pounce. The valkyrie was knocked off her horse, madder than ever in a combat. "Lady, do forgive me but my aging corpse cannot bear to hear too well. Can you kindly repeat what you have said? Word by word, of course." This made the Magvelian fume even greater.

"How dare you mock me! You desecrators shall be severely punished with the most awsesome magic in the world!" The valkyrie continued to spell her magic. "So I've heard, ever since our quarrel had begun, but as far as the terms of events have gone, I believe you are not even close to finishing that awful magic." Pent's insight on her casting time was almost perfect and he knew it. The confident grin on the sage's face made her hate him even more. L'Arachel was barely half done with Ivaldi even after a whole round of sparring. In that very moment, the sage took a very curious looking book, a great aura was felt from it, and started reading from it. The magvelian felt the quick concentration of magic around her opponent as he spoke each and every word. "I won't lose to you! Evil be gone!" L'Arachel hastily casted her magic. The holy magician felt the familiar thrill of overwhelming power surging through her body. Ivaldi was almost ready. "Ivaldi!" With the head start, L'Arachel was able to end her spell quicker than Pent, who, also, was almost finished with his own magic.

"For Magvel!" Dozla's mighty arms hurled another bael into the crowd, knocking more than a few other baels with it. "Fall to the dirt where you belong!" With another blow of his fist, Wallace had broken the carapace of his opposing bael. The spider fell with a shrill but was soon overrun by its comrades, if that's what they called each other. A quick one tried its claws against the mighty general but rather, the intensely heavy plates wounded its claws, making them dull and useless. "Come on! Hold no guilt in outnumbering me, 'cause you shall never outnumber me! I hold the force of an army, the prowess of a million!" With another swing of his clenched hands, a bael fell to the floor and lost its livelihood. In matters of minutes, the mass of baels perished and laid dead on the cold street of the harbor town. "Shall we continue?"

Without a reply, Wallace rushed up to the berserker with his arms raised for a punch. The magvelian took it as a light jab and returned the favor with his fist. Although the punch landed on a plateless surface, the general's face did not budge even slightly. "A fine attack, but that will not do for you to beat me." The two prepared to strike and when they did, their hands met with each other's faces and the two fell to the floor, besides the corpses of the dead baels. Soon, a loud high-pitched whistle was heard and after it, an explosion.

"Aerola!" The magic Pent had promised to take to his care as Athos died, erupted and met with the Magvel's Ivaldi. The two blinding lights clashed and broke into a thousand ray of luminance and dispersed into the darkness. "Why, I won't let that happen again. Such disgraceful preparation of mine, I must have rushed." The mage general resumed his casting. Without thinking, L'Arachel blew her whistle, signaling her body guards. In that moment, another grand ray of light fell on the two and exploded. "Luce." Said a weak and uncertain voice, coming from behind a tree. The valkyrie, with her bright red hair, came in contact to her victims. They laid unconscious on the floor. She took Pent, first, to her horse, assisted by the green general, Gilliam, and healed him as best as she can while Serra went to aid the blonde valkyrie. With moist eyes, Priscilla whispered a few words to the fallen sage, speaking of apologies and asking for forgiveness for her rash actions, containing the use of Luce. Priscilla also noticed that her magic had impacted heavily on the mage general's bag. She hoped there was nothing too important in it, or she would tear herself into piece due to guilt. At that very second, a thief, judging by his clothing, jumped right behind the valkyrie, startling her. The thief wore a mischievous expression often seen on the menacing Matthew and said, "Did someone call for me?" He referred to the whistle.


	22. Before the Dawn of the Twilight

**For Disclaimer: Please go look at chapter1 for references. Its 12am, and I'm really tired.**

**For Readers: The Fanfic is slowly closing up. Thanks for reading my fanfic upto know and don't miss the ending. Jeol Gih Seh Yo.**

**For SpeedDemon: I did have a bag of popcorn while writing. Funny you should remind me.**

**Before the Dawn of the Twilight**

**Heath's Story**

The wyvern grew hungrier, and so did its rider. Heath was not the type to complain for a lack of food, however, the continuous flight did not help very much after eating such a light dinner and nothing else until now. His wyvern, for one, showed hardship as he glided over the breeze that blew from hills out to the open water. "This is getting ridiculous. Let's land for a while. Once you get your strength back up, we can return to the ship." Heath's dragon agreed, as it dived straight down, slicing the air as it did. With a mighty flap of his wings, the wyvern stopped itself momentarily and landed lightly on the ground. "Now where is that dried meat I had…" The winged ride watched curiously at his knight and the bag he was searching in.

At last the last of the long lasting meat was found. However, they did not last a gulp to the grand wyvern, one of the last air born units to survive the last archers' assault without a lasting wound. As soon as the last piece of the dried beef was no more, the green haired wyvern rider got up to get ready for a last overview and, at last, return to their last place of stay after all was done, the ship. A sudden disturbance in the bushes was heard, alerting the wyverner and the wyvern. Heath signaled his winged lizard with a gesture of his head. As the wyvern saw this, it slithered to the side without a sound. The wyvern knight approached the bush and it trembled once again. Without a single doubt, he raised his lance and pointed it to the low leveled tree. With a loud cry, a tiny shadow jumped out of the bushes and assaulted the wyvern rider. Or it tried its best. Even before the shadow was close enough to swing a strike; it was suspended in the air by the mighty jaw of Heath's wyvern biting the collar of its shirt.

It was a he, to be exact. He was fairly young, judging through the darkness of the night. He wore a headband on his forehead to keep his messy hair from reaching his eyes. His clothes were ragged, a bit, and, most importantly, he wore an axe on his back. "Hey, kid, why do you attack me at this time of the night?" Heath obviously knew the answer, but he wished that through a very unlikely chance that it was just a mistake. The reply was not to his likings. Heath sighed loudly and motioned to his wyvern, telling him to let go of the boy. "We're done for today. If I must battle children, I do not wish to take part of it any longer." As he turned around, a tip of a spear crossed right in front of his facing, missing by an inch. Expecting a side swing, the experienced fighter drew his sword and knocked the sword totally out of line. When he did this, though, it felt like he was swinging at air. No strength was present on the lance. When he looked at the lancer, he knew why. It was only a little girl, frowning at her lose of a perfect chance.

Afraid of engaging in combat with anything half his size, Heath quickly jumped to mount on his wyvern and flee. However, a bolt of fire exploded on his back. If not for the well composed armor of his, the explosion would have been more than a little sting on his back. The previous axe bearer jumped and down-thrusted his axe. If not for his small statures, the axe would not have looked so immense. Anyhow, Heath was given very little time to roll out of the blade's way, just to dodge the sharp edge of a spear. Once he had jumped back to his feet, another fire ball was hurled at him. This time, the wyvern rider quickly shielded himself with a light buckler, worn by all wyvern riders. The buckler was just enough to stop the magic but not enough to negate the impetuous force of the magical fire. Just then, another short figure appeared from his back with a drawn sword, and slashed it upwards. Heath knew he could not block it in time.

The sword stopped midway towards the target, blocked by the heavily scaled tail of a wyvern. Heath's wyvern, to be exact. The dragon kin was ready as ever in defending his master in combat. Heath did not like the word use of master in his relationship with his wyvern, but many called it by assumption and by habit. Glancing at his ride, Heath returned the favor with a quick leap at the attacking lancer, holding his buckler up high. The lance was easily deflected and as it did, Heath hopped right on to the wyvern's back and signaled for flight. The mighty wings of the drake pushed, sending a powerful current of wind downwards. The rider and the ride lifted off the ground and flew into the night's sky. The force of the gale had knocked the Magvelians to their backs, as they watched the figure disappear in flight.

Gerik was not yet pleased with himself. He had lost the two pirates in the dark and also had lost himself all together. He scratched the back of his head, took a big breath and looked up to see the bright moon of the night. He noticed the sky grew bluer, meaning the night was in turn to conceal itself, as morning was about to rise. Also, an unknown figure flew above his head. It flew not too above him. The figure resembled a wyvern, but not one that he could recognize as familiar. This wyvern was new to his eyes. The luster of it's scales and the arrangement of the tail was not what he had encountered during his long battling career in Magvel. There was no doubt it was an enemy force. A hand ax was hurled from his hands in great speed. The ax was well aimed and well thrown. Gerik only hoped the rider or the ride did not notice the projectile in time.

The hope was too big but the chance was deadly low. The veteran soldier and his wyvern noticed even before the ax was hurled. The weapon was deflected easily with a parry of a sword. Although tired, Heath and his wyvern had been provoked. The two was ready to give that ax wielder a time of his life. The final time of his life. Gerik, too, saw the ax bend from its original path and the wyvern do the same. The mercenary gripped his blade and his shield, taking his battle stance. He was going to make sure he did not fail this time.

"Damn, that guy was too good." Ewan rubbed his head, where the force of the wyvern had made him crash a tree on. The young mage pick up his fire tome and got up, brushing the dirt off of his pants and cape. Franz agreed with a nod and retraced his lance and sword back to it's sheathes. "Maybe we are just too little to fight like…like…I don't know. Like My brother, Forde." The cavalier spoke. "Or Master Saleh." The neophyte magician added. "Or like my dad, the Great Garcia!" Ross spoke up. "Or like Sir Gilliam." Amelia finally put an end to the idolization. The four turned and started back to their camp, undetecting a disturbance in the bushes.

The wyverner rushed in quickly, quicker then what was expected by Gerik. The wyvern was well built and strong. Just by the looks of the immense wings, the mercenary could tell the wyvern was no commoner. Gathering his wits, Gerik gracefully performed one of his famous techniques, also known as the swording shield. Focusing his strength on his shield arm, Gerik lifted his shield to eye level. Guiding the tip of the spear on the curve of his shield, Gerik easily blocked the lancer's rush and struck back by jabbing with his shield arm. Caught in surprise, Heath quickly raised his own buckler to match the grand shield; however the small buckler was not enough. The wyvern rider was knocked off of his ride with ease. If not for the plates guarding his back, Heath would have been in much pain. However, the armor was just enough to cushion the landing.

With a hint of anger in his face, the wyvern knight regained his stance and held his spear tightly in his grip. With a piercing glare, the wyvern rider stared back, behind him stood the wyvern, ready to make up for his own error. "Hold, rest for now. I will finish this guy by myself." As the green haired wyverner spoke, the wyvern himself gave out a low growl, almost disagreeing with his master's proposal. Gerik relaxed a bit, knowing the beast will not take a stand in combat. "Whew, I was starting to believe the rider would unleash his wyvern on me." The mercenary whispered to himself. "I value my wyvern and respect him. He does not need to reach down just to clean a blot like you." Heath now drew a sword in his idle hand. The other held the spear with the hilt pressing on his back. Clearly insulted, Gerik broke the pacific night with a raging charge with his shield held high.

With an upper swing of the well forged sword, Gerik's shield was also forced up, revealing a large target area. The wyvern rider quickly lunged deeply with his spear. The movement was so quick that the parry of the mercenary's was only enough to redirect the tip to his thigh, opening a petite wound. The swordsman flinched at the sharp sting in his leg and retreated fully right away. Clenching his jaws hard, Gerik forced out a roar, getting his blood to flow much rapidly and his adrenaline to start rushing. Gerik had not even warmed up before the battle. Gerik drew another weapon, a hand ax, into his shield arm.

Like shadows, the two moved. Darkness concealed their movements. The rustling of the leaves hid their footsteps. The bright moon guided their path. Jaffar and Karel moved like a phantom, haunting it's victims in the darkest night. Their weapons flashed slyly, just once, before being redrawn. In a split second, the two had disarmed their opponents, an unexpected few, and had them at their blades' mercy. It wouldn't be long until the others meet the same fate.

"Wing side bash!" The great shield of the veteran mercenary crashed into the lance holding arm. With a quick, but dangerous, block with the spear's hilt, the attack was stopped. However, attacks did not stop. Heath was fighting in a calmer mind than he was before but as the battle raged on; his enemy seemed to rampage even harder. The swinging of his arms was wilder and the footings were much quicker, ready to pounce at any moment. The mercenary thrusted his sword as Heath dodged the attack. Sliding side ways, the wyvern rider closed in on his foe, ready to strike with his lance. Gerik's shield came quickly between them and pushed the two away, unabling the knight from making a counter attack of any sort. However, Heath knew better than to just let the armor get in his way. With a kick of his hard heel, Heath knocked the shield out of line and threw the lance as he leaped back. The blade of Gerik's ax paused the lance, for good.

Fatigue started to overcome Gerik's senses, as well as Heath's. Gerik, who boasted his arm strength as a mercenary, was starting to feel the weight of his weapon in his hands. Heath, also, felt his armor becoming burdenous. Gerik knew he had to end the battle quickly, very quickly. He knew he had not enough stamina to last any longer. After taking a deep breath, the mercenary sprang into action. He ran straight into the lance wielder and jumped, spiraling in the air. The grand shield forcing into the wyverner's side. The knight ducked, avoiding the blow by an inch, and parried the coming sword with his own. Expecting this maneuver, Gerik hurled his ax, aiming for the neck, at Heath as his trump card. The knight stood helpless, his sword out of line and his lance too heavy to lift in a hurry. Heath's mind flashed to the past when he was happy. He remembered his hope in returning home and creating a family of his own. He did not want to die, not yet. He could not bear to think about breathing his last in a foreign soil, where he was a villain, not a hero. Heath, the brave knight, a proud wyvern knight of Lord Eliwood, felt fear. In that flash of a second, another 'flash' appeared in his eyes. A flash of light.

Jaffar gave a dead look towards Heath, who stood petrified at both the assassin and the hurled ax. Behind the former Black Fang, Heath also noticed the Sword Demon, disarming the swordsman he was just facing. Right behind the two came Lowen, catching his breath and barely drawing his sword. Surprisingly, the cavalier was horseless and running, next to him was an unfamiliar red hair, with a deadly sword in his hand, the Wo Dao. "Gerik, hold your blade, you are in presents of our guests." The red haired swordman spoke. As he did, the mercenary quickly obeyed and sheathed his sword and slid away his ax. "Do the same, Sir Heath. They do not mean any harm." The yellow armored knight spoke. Heath was definitely not believing the fact that they meant NO harm, but as his own comrades acted, he knew better than to disagree.

_It took nothing more than a second to pressure the four kids. When they had, Karel's convincing speech was all they need to get the Magvelian to tell their encampment location, in a hurry. The two, the angel and the demon, stealthily came about the Magvelian army's camp. "Hey, guys. Are we playing hide and seek?" Out of the blue, the green hair cavalier, Lowen, appeared, startling both Karel and Jaffar. Karel replied with a sharp look as Jaffar just returned to look for a safe time and place for starting his assassination. At the very best moment, Jaffar leaped to his feet, and Karel did the same, and started towards a healer's tent. "By the way, I hold orders from Lord Eliwood. He wants me to tell you two to stop your attack and return to the ship immediately. The two runners stopped and turned around, facing Lowen. The two gave the cavalier an expression of disbelief that he would never, ever forget. Karel slowly start back to the knight, when he heard a voice right in his ear. "Hello, don't I know you from somewhere."_

_If not for the Sword Demon's quick reflexes, the red haired swordsman would have definitely gotten him in a swing. Karel drew his Wo Dao and turn to strike back, when he noticed the familiar face. He barely remembered the person's name as Joshua, one who he had wounded badly in an arena battle. Also, Karel noticed Joshua had been wielding a Wo Dao, just the same. "Nice, a shamshir? It good to know you won't disappoint me to the end." The red hair, after speaking, took his usual fighting stance. "Stop!!!!" A distance piercing scream rang in the night, disturbing more than a few birds. The high pitched voice belonged to Tana, by memory. The Pegasus rider landed right between the two swordsmen and ended the quarrel before it even began. "Joshua, stop! These people aren't the enemies." With a puzzled look, the Magvelian swords master looked back at Tana. Disappointed, Karel, Joshua, and Jaffar put way their weapons. To startle them all, a roaring, unidentifiable one, was heard._


	23. The Departure

**For Disclaimer: All Fire Emblem characters, items, magic, and others are all properties of Nintendo. Not mine.**

**For Readers: The next chapter is the last. I will try to end this as quick and painless as possible. Thank you for supporting me until know and I am willing to take ideas for the next Fanfiction I'll right. I haven't chosen a topic yet. Enjoy this dull chapter. I swear the next will be much better.**

**For Knives: Kyle and Forde got pwned by Jaffar and Karel. Lyn is prolly still looking around in the harbor for someone to convert to a pacifist. Vaida is still flying around. Legault got hit in the head, just like Karla.**

**The Departure**

The highest casualty rate probably came from restraining Vaida and Bartre. It was just impossible for words to end Bartre from swing his heart out. Rather a good group of the knights and fighters brought Bartre to the floor, just long enough to be convinced to stop. Vaida, on the other hand, was chased by the whole Frelian Pegasus force, (and wounding about half, which would be a rough underestimate) until Wil decided to lend a hand, and a bow and arrow. The others, however, were much reasonable and easy to deal with. They had cooperated, at least.

It was 3 before noon in the harbor where the pirate ship had docked. In the cabin were two fencers, two lancers, a swordswoman, an archer, and an axe wielder. "I beg your pardon for such misunderstanding, Marquess. I had been hostile rather than hospitable. I have shame the Magvelians as a whole with my actions." Ephraim said, smiling nervously. In return, Eliwood kindly offered his hand and his words, "It is not a problem for us. None was lost or severely wounded that it would affect their careers. And, it helped them recover from their slump which was casted upon them after our last battle, which was a bit long ago." Ephraim gladly took the hand and shook it. The battle was over in a draw, surrenders from both sides, unwilling to harm the innocent.

"Now, Lord Eliwood, you had not told us of your business in Magvel." Innez, the keen archer of Frelia, asked the foreigners. "Ah, that. As you can see the repaired conditions of our ship, we had been somewhat wreck along the coast of this island and was luckily and safely drifted on to this harbor." Hector replied with his strong voice. "Well, then. I do have one thing to say. Your transporter is not the best of men to hang around with. However, he is not the worst. Fargus, indeed, should be more cautious with his ship and do a better job at carpentering his vessel. We, as Magvelians, will handle that as a form of apology." Ephraim told the two marquesses. "Bring a team of the best and most capable shipwrights in this harbor. Tell them this boat is to be done by tomorrow." The Renais' prince ordered. His words were laws.

"So, Rennac, how has it been? Any successful treasure huntings in Magvel?" Dart, as he sat next to his old friend. Smiling, the rogue replied, "You know me. I would never do anything as dangerous as that. I've just been robbing palaces and betraying mercenaries. Hardly an income, but it's the way to live for a guy like me." Dart just laughed at his easy going buddy, Rennac. "Did I hear treasure?" From a tree above and a shadow near it, two voices came. One was the Hurricane and the other was Matthew. "Oh yeah, we've got people like you in our crew also. This is Legault and that's Matthew. You'll like them both." Dart introduced the two thieves to the Magvelian. "So, what do you do for kicks around here?" Matthew asked and Rennac putted on a big smile.

Night fell and all retired to their beds and into their dorms. As a final act of courage, the four rogues, Colm included, had escaped to the open darkness. They were ready to do what they were best at and probably no force in the world could have stopped them that day. "Let's do this quick and fast. Let not a piece of you be seen this night. Take from them everything, but give them nothing. Not even a glimpse of your cloak." The former Black Fang leader, Legault, instructed the thieves around him. The four disperse rapidly, engulfed by the shadow of the pitch black night. That night, not one star was up. Doing their business as stealthily and efficiently as possible, the unfortunates met with Colm, the more unfortunates with Matthew, the highly unfortunates with Rennac, and the most unfortunates with Legault. No one was able to resist, or had neither the ability nor the time to. Within half an hour, the rogues would be done and ready to retire for the night, as well. People believed it was a work of a phantom, a phantom that has a good taste for rare and highly prized goods.

It was only an hour or so before departure. Everyone was busy readying their goods and rechecking it. Tactician Helen, who was with Merlinus, recounted the supplies which kept coming out bigger than expected. "Helen, are you sure there are 18 silver swords? I thought we only had 16 in stock. I've counted them last night. If this is a prank, Miss Tactician, it's not humoring me a bit." Merlinus, who had to report the group's supply list to Lord Eliwood as soon as possible, was getting frustrated. "No, I'm not…it's really there. 18 silver swords. Look." The tactician displayed all the swords and showed the supply manager the silver swords. The two wondered of how other numerous stocks of items took its place with their weapons.

Pent had ended his diary entry and was walking on the ship's deck. The boat was full of memories that he could sense even without the aid of his magic. The air was salty and the wind was rough but Pent felt relaxed. He, somhow, learned to enjoy the open water during his adventure. He would dreadfully miss the open field and the wide plains. The seas and the mountains would be only of memories. Pent hoped it would never come to that. The magician took his diary and grabbed his pen, jotting down his new inspiration. His eagle-sighted wife watched him from not afar.

"The boat is departing now! Where is that dunce duo?" Fargus yelled out at Dart, who shrugged back. Eliwood and Hector were late. If not for their importance, the pirate captain would've made sure their fourth lateness would not go without a penalty, but as them being marquesses, he had no power over them but to yell at the top of his lungs. The rest of the crew, both Eliwood's and Fargus', just sat back and was entertained. For the matter, the two crews did not mind that one was an outlaw and the other stood for it. In the ship, they were all comrades.

"And what took you two so long? I've clearly told you two dummies to get on this ship before-!" The pirate was cut off by a gesture of Marcus. "Fargus, I will handle it from here." Shadow of fear filled Eliwood and Hector's face. The look of terror, known by everyone, emerged. Even Fargus gave into Marcus' orders, leaving the two to the knight's hands. "What a pity, we won't see those two for a while." Erk turned around and returned to his room to catch on his reading of Minor Diversion of Ancient Magic and the Effect.

The ship sailed in full speed. The wind blew greatly and the weather was swell. The waves did not rush but did not rest and the ship sailed in full speed.

"Man, I'll miss those guys." Ephraim waved from the harbor. He was smiling at the leaving ship. One night they were enemies, the other they were friends. "I hope they visit sometime. I haven't had enough of that Hector yet." The lance wield hoped dearly and turned around, thinking of the time when he had first fought the Armads wielder. "Alright Innes, get the troops ready. We are heading for the forest. Hopefully all our troubles end there." The Renaisian said to his tactician, as well as an archer, and received a nod as a reply. The army had recovered from the battle in the harbor and was ready, more than ever, to follow Lord Ephraim's orders. As the two returned to their camp, they were greeted right away by Eirika and Tana. No matter how annoying they acted, they were still family.

It had been few days since the boat had departed form the harbor. They crew's spirit was down. Down from exhaustion and down from lack of hope. "What do you mean we're lost again?" Eliwood, too tired to move, just complained from his post. Everyone on the boat had helped in keeping the ship in tact as another storm assaulted the vessel. "This is not a time to whine, Lord Marquess. The fog is deep and the ship is lost. I have no idea where our ship lies on the map. It is best to follow the orders given to you until we have a better position out in this sea." The experience pirate was right and the fencer had nothing more to say but that he was tired. In fact, everyone was tired.

"Land! I see land!" Dart screamed from the upper floors, where he was deployed with Wil to sight out anything. Everyone hurried to the edge of the deck, where the piece of land looked the closest. Mist was yet thick but fragments of the land were visible, slightly. Few faint noises were heard, but very faintly. "Finally, some land to give this old gal a rest." Fargus ordered the ship to be docked onto the land. Luckily enough, the boat was safely anchored near the shores. "We might want to get some food and wood to repair the ship. Eliwood, boy, get your troops ready. We'll need all of them to get this thing moving ASAP." The pirate captain said and Eliwood's army was on the marshy lands in a flash.

On the land, the faint noise heard from the ship was much clearer, and louder. "What is that noise?" One of Eliwood's troops asked, making other take notice of it as well.


	24. The Forgotten Guards of the Ruin

**Disclaimers: Fire Emblem is not owned by me. It is property of Nintendo. Do not disclaim.**

**Readers: This is my final chapter. Thank you all for being with me to the end. I'll see you somewhere around the corner and until then, live strong.**

**Wildfire: What is Tellius? XDDD**

**The Forgotten Guardians of the Ruin**

"D, did we really have to come here?" Helen spotted around nervously. "Lady Tactician, if you do not feel comfortable being in the woods, I would stay behind and-." The blue haired tactician shook her head and smiled back, just to assure Erk. "No, I wouldn't be much of a tactician if I fled the army, right?" The Studious Mage just shrugged and looked away. He was quickly attacked verbally by Serra, overwhelmed by her destructive vocal skills. Helen just laughed and walked over to Lucius. He always had something interesting to say.

Including Hector, the army was cutting down wood for the ship and gathering any possible food supplies. Mainland food would be scarce out in the open seas, so any fruits and fresh meat had to be collected now, or it would be never. Wallace was enjoying the manual labor as some sort of training. He swung his immense ax, in attempt to cut down trees with one blow. It worked, rarely. The knights worked as busily as their mercenaries to get the woods chopped down. Well, no matter how hard they tried, no one beat Pent and which wind magic, which cut the trees in a flash, multiple at a time. The Mage General just grinned at his wife, who stood right beside him.

"Wil, really, slow down!" Rebecca barely kept up with the nimble archer's pace. "C'mon Rebecca! If you lag down that much, how are we going to find anything to hunt for?" The cheery archer hurried himself even more. As he spotted a good kill, he came to a sudden halt and signaled with his hands to his comrade so she would not make a raucous as she came near Wil. Wil slowly drew an arrow from his quiver and set it on his bow string. He quickly pulled back and aimed for the neck. "Wil!" The archer turned around to see what was going with Rebecca. However, he could not see her, she wasn't there. Or rather, there was something in the way.

Canas had a real good idea of where herbs and plants resided. Even as a formerly trained cleric, Priscilla had not known so much of healing herbs and leaflets. Although food was more of a matter back in the ship, medical issues still had to be checked. "Oh look berries." Canas looked happier as he approached the berry bush. The druid was smiling to himself a lot more than usual. This was probably the first time the valkyrie had seen Canas' dark side. It was not a very pleasant sight to see a fully grown man enjoy himself so much as he pick berries. It was sort of frightening. She just stood, staring from afar as Canas filled his bag. A sudden chill was felt behind her back.

"A walking skeleton!" Rebecca screamed out loud. Recounting their adventures, a waling skeleton was not even close to any extremes, but nonetheless, it was a skeleton walking around. Wil had fired his arrow already, meaning he had to draw another from his quiver, pull the bow string with it, aim, and fire before the skeleton would start attacking him with his dead sword. The skeleton moved quicker than expected as Wil had believed all his life that undead skeletons moved at the speed of Wallace. This one proved him totally wrong. Wil, even though he was one of the most nimble and agile in Eliwood's army, had a hard time dodging the attacks. Often, he had to use his precious bow to block some swings. There was no time to draw an arrow, just enough to jump out of the edge's way. Rebecca, in the midst of the battle, was clumsily doing her job. Her mind raced as she saw her friend become a victim of an assault. It was usually their job to snipe them off one by one.

"Wil..!!" She shot a poorly aimed arrow right before Wil's face. The tip had almost made contact with his nose and the feather just brushed by. In shock, the archer stumbled to his knees as he landed from his leap. The sword struck downwards, aiming for the head. Wil quckly held his arms up to guard and the blade landed right between his index and middle finger, leaving a small dent on the bow but not harming the archer. He knew there was no time to rest as the skeleton soldier continued to slash his sword. _Damnit. _That word did not leave Wil's mind.

"Flux!" Frightened, Priscilla sank to the ground. She had let out a small scream, a short one. She had thought the druid would turn the dark magic on her, but she was till in one piece. "Are you alright Miss? Hopefully that zombie hadn't laid his hands on you." Canas had that same kind and soothing smile on his face. Behind the valkyrie was a redead corpse, crushed by the weight of flux's magic. "I-." Before Priscilla could reply, another pair had showed up. "We heard some weird screaming. Is everyone alright?" Lucius appeared with the tactician hiding behind him. "Yes, everything is okay now. You may leave us to be." Canas was still smiling, and picking his berries again. "One more thing Lucius. Can you get a bottle full of tint lemon?" Lucius, after a moment of thought, looked up and nodded. The druid sighed after the pair had left. When Lucius and Helen were out of sight, he finished picking his berries and stood full and upright. "Alright, let us move on also."

For the matter, Wil was sitting down, trying to catch his breath. "Thanks for your help. I was so scared after nearly hit Wil that I…I couldn't shoot anymore." Rebecca was really depressed and the magvelian archer, Neimi, was just about to cry with her. "Well, it was really lucky that we passed by you two. I can't believe two archers were even thinking of taking down a skeleton in close combat." Colm tried to sound surprise. He was sort of surprised, at least. "By the way, why are you two still on Magvel? Didn't your ship leave like last week?" The thief, half curious and half suspicious, asked the two archers. His hands were not letting go of the hilt of his daggers. Wil had some explaining to do.

After the long story was cut short, Colm nodded just barely enough to be noticed. "I see, so your ship is mess up again?" Wil clarified to the thief once more. "Alright, I report to Lord Ephraim after my mission is done." The blue haired thief was about to banish into the shadows when the archer called out, "Wait, what mission? Will we be any of a help? After all, you had helped us in our need, the least we can do is to give back the lost time we have caused." The two archers looked determined to help Neimi and Colm. The thief approved right away. "The plan is that…"

"Watch where you step, Miss." Canas said as he watched Priscilla made her way though the forest. Despite all the warnings he gave, the druid himself was the first to bash his own head into a branch. "I'm alright." Canas said, calling from the ground. The valkyrie just laugh lightly. Canas could never bring you down.

It wasn't too later on when the pair had escaped the forest. It was not much different from the forest itself, but the bog was yet filled with its own trees and plants. It was not a pleasant place to be in. At that instant, the ground shook and a loud round of thumping was heard. It was somewhat muted, yet it was loud. From a distant line of trees, an enormous figure appeared. It held a giant ax, dulled and chipped but wet with blood, in his right hand as he dragged himself around. His single eye, which was placed right in the middle of his face, made contact with the valkyrie's. The giant hurled his giant ax at Priscilla. The valkyrie panicked as the immense blade closed in on her. She knew nothing of swords play and without her horse; she had not really learned how to make haste during battle. She stood on her spot, petrified, hoping Canas, or anyone, would do something. "Excalibur."

A green blade of air bended the direction of the flying ax, making it miss the red haired healer by a yard, literally. "That would've been disastrous." A magician appeared from behind a tree, very near from where the two stood. "Look out you two, because that thing can get very aggressive." The sky darkened at the moment and Priscilla looked up with Canas. An arranged line of wing riders flew towards the giant, the riders holding their weapons high. The magvelians had amazing aerial aces that would match the skills of Fiora, at the least. Their aerial maneuvers were superb as they evaded every movement of the Cyclops. Also, the two magicians noticed something on the back of the Cyclops, a red haired sword master. In his hands was a deadly looking sword with a chilling aura that starved for a throat. The icy blade was held up and the aura grew as if it had sprung up with excitement. In a blinding speed, Joshua had ended life to the Cyclops and disappeared.

"Don't make a sound." Colm ordered silently. Neimi, an expert at lip reading after working with the rogue for so long, nodded once as she held her breath. "Slowly, Neimi. Slowly aim for that gorgan." By then, the two foreign archers were all wondering of what Colm was talking about, and it was no wonder to the rogue that the two were wondering. "Alright, I guess you two don't see those things where you come from. Medusas, or gorgons, are snake like creatures that know some dark magic and can curse you to a stone, temporarily. But if you are not lucky in that state, you might just become permanent fragments of your own statue. Remember, it's their sorcery, not the eyes that turn you to stones. The eyes are just in myths. It just means that by the time you make eye contact with a medusa, she is probably already finished with the hex and you are turning into a stone. Just look out for that and you will be fine."

Snap, went a dry branch. Colm was so going to yell at her if they made it through this mission. Everyone looked back to Neimi as she stared blankly at her shoes, under it, the broken branch. The sound had already attracted many of the monsters nearby and Colm, being the swiftest, dealt the first blow with his drawn daggers and slit an approaching medusa's throat. "Quick, slay them out before they spot the aerial force!" Arrows showered the monsters like a rainy summer day. The tips landed quicker than any words the medusas conjured up. They landed never on a stray target.

"It's the second Cyclops!" And the third was also with it. Overpowering one Cyclops was an easy work, with a few good tactical moves; the dunce beasts were not as powerful as they looked. "Form to the right, circle it from both sides and give Cormag a time to strike." Syrene's orders were firm and clear as Tana and Vanessa quickly maneuvered around the giant, avoiding the wild swinging of the ax. "Too easy." Tana mocked as she made her way behind the monster. As the dumb giant turned to swing at the pest-like rider, Cormag rushed in with his lance and pierced the giant through his back and the heart. Quickly and silently, the wyvern rider withdrew his weapon from the corpse and took flight to prepare for a second attack. At the moment, Tana was struck hard by the blunt swing of the third giant's arm. She and her Pegasus were projected to a nearby tree and landed, unconscious, on the floor.

Quickly, the aerial formation was broken as Syrene rushed to the Frelian's aid, leaving Vanessa a sole target for the Cyclops to aim for. "Back off." A powerful impact unbalanced the giant. The Frelian prince, Innes, had the legendary Nidhogg out and ready. The ax wielding beast turn to target the archer as two more arrows struck it by its arm and its chest. "Next will me your-?!" Before Innes could continue, a small group of cavaliers passed him, leading the band was a teal green cavalier, Ephraim. "Lances up!" Ephraim called and quickly, Franz, Forde, Seth, and Kyle followed. "Toss!" The riders hurled their javelins, each piercing the head, and dispersed. Canas quickly twirled around to shoot his magic at a centaur but before he could, Eirika had already stolen the life out of the monster. "Watch out, next time. These things can move real fast." Priscilla had already fixed up Tana and was get her hands on her own magic tomes, just incase any fighting was needed.

The medusas and the gargoyles were finally finished off. Wil and Colm matched each other's movements very well and had somewhat enjoyed the battle. The thief had wiped his dirty end of the dagger on his cloak and moved on, expecting others to do the same. Colm had spoken of these caves where all the gargoyles were appearing from.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" The tactician nodded and shied away. "Well, I guess you can't argue a tactician at her own job." The marsh had just stopped and a small open land was revealed. Suddenly, the ground shoot tremendously and a pair of great roars were heard. On the very spot where the foreign army was, two dragons made their entrance, clawing and biting each other to pieces. One looked as a healthy young yellow dragon but the other…it was as dark as the dead. Its wings were holed and its carapace resembled the non living. "Eliwood…" Hector looked over at his friend, who had hovered his hands over the hilt of Durandel, hesitated, and then drew a rapier.

"Aid her, damnit!" Cormag fell from the sky on his wyvern, chasing after the two dragons. Quickly, Vaida and Heath were hot on his trail, followed by the three pegasus riding sisters. Cormag had run his lance through the undead dragon and the rest did the same with their own weapons, wounding the monster. Yet, the beast did not even flinch and retaliated quickly, not leaving not enough time for the flyers to perform their second attack. "That thing is moving too quick. Those guys need to get out of the dragon's range." Hector said. The tactician, as soon as she heard it, created a small flare magic in the air and wrote a "Get out of there" with the smoke. The wing riders rapidly understood the message and left the area, making sure Cormag was with them. The monster opened its jaws and breathed deeply, pointing at the escaping riders. A darkened cloud was released from the undead dragon's mouth and was shot at the fleeing wyvern rider. _"No!" _The other dragon, the lively and yellow one, rammed into the undead beast, misaiming the breath. Cormag dared not look back.

The last infested cave was ridden of all the gargoyle spawns. Colm had sheathed his dagger and headed out of the cavern. It not exactly the happiest place to be in and he wished not to linger in it any longer. He headed towards the mouth of the cave. "Mission complete." The rogue silently told himself.

The dark fire of the undead dragon traveled fiercely towards Cormag. "Fimbrevetre." Erk casted silently from his post. Everyone dazzled at the piercing snow and ice which interrupted the flow of the fire and yet damage the dragon as well. "Now! Go get her!" Jaffar was much quicker then any words and before Erk had even started his sentence, the assassin was already near the young manakeet who was worn out and injured from her battle. Jaffar swiftly and soundlessly returned to a certain cleric, who was feared by most of the group and dropped off the little girl there and returned to the field, getting ready to do what pleased him the most.

"Elfire!" Pent quickly shot an immense fireball from his palms and across the armored Wallace for a temporary shield until his next casting would be finished. This time, the spell would be finished much earlier. Pent pressed on his focus. Legault had already ridden on the back of the dragon and was pestering it greatly at its neck with his keen dagger. "C'mon you dunce knights! Get together quickly before I get shaken off or something." The Hurricane stabbed one more time into the spiked carapace of the dragon.

The rear line was only consisted of Hector, Eliwood, and Oswin, who had stayed behind in place of Marcus as the two lords' bodyguard. "Eliwood, why do you not draw your Durandel as I have done to my Armads?" The axe wielder saw that the fencer was fidgeting with the hilt of his grand sword. It was clear on Eliwood's face that something was bothering him, something that prevented him from drawing his sword.

"There is no escape for you." From behind the three knights, a voice was heard. Innes stood with his bow pointed at the dragon's wings. "I shall cripple you from any distance." His arrows flew truly to his words and the winged dragon was pierced in his great pair of sails. The Frelian lowered his bow, as if his job was all done and the battle was over. From above, the remaining wing riders came down in a "V" formation, a trite yet effective position. Following the lead of Cormag, the rest of the flyers closed in on the undead. "Pierce it without mercy!" The wyvern rider ordered to both of the armies. They followed as one and trailed Cormag in the assault. All their lances landed on a vital area and wounded the dragon terribly.

The two armies made a great stand against the dragon, adding spells after pierces, after slashes, attacks never stopped from all sides. "Marquess, should you not be aiding your army as their leader?" Oswin spoke. "Nah, they got that tactician girl with them. They'll manage without my stupidity. But I know Eliwood needs some convincing words. If you must, go and fight as you please. We aren't little kids, you know." Hector gave the knight a thumbs-up. With the usual poker face, the armored knight approached the battlefield. Another deadly enemy for the dragon to worry about.

"Damn. Lord Ephraim, the dragon does not seem to weaken from any of our hits." Gerik jumped to the cavalier's side and said. "Well, irritate it as much as you can. If the relic users can get their hits on the dragon, it won't last that long." Gerik nodded and returned to the battle, switching back and forth in lines of attack from his shield to his sword. The relic magics, both native and foreign, have only injured the dragon to a certain extent and the constant attacks from Audhulma and Niddhog did not seem to be very effective also.

"GlaceFrost had not worked, Master Pent." Erk was breathing heavily, low on magic and his physical stamina. "You did well. The undead cannot feel the keen frost of ice. It is not at your fault. ForBlaze could not penetrate the scales, just the same. Just prevent it from attacking with your thunder tomes and do not over tax yourself." The Living Legend was readier to caste his thunder. Erk nodded to the commands. The Studious Mage casted six consecutive shots, followed by a magic transfer from the tactician girl; who had been following Erk the whole time. Pent just smiled at his pupil and continued to fire away with his magic. He could not possibly lose pace from his wife.

"You three go down. I can shoot from up here." Wil drew his bow and quiver once again and readied himself some room. The dragon was only as big as a rock from the distance. "Man, too easy." His first two arrows struck the lower neck and the arm. "Way too simple. Way too easy."

"Get his mouth sealed!" Ephraim yelled his orders. His Reginleif reached only so far. "God, why isn't any of my attacks working?" Forde complained as he started at his dulled lance from scraping it on the dragon's carapace. "Try your brush. I think that will be ever more effective than your spear." Kyle joked, as he passed by his comrade. The battle passed on forever, as it seemed. The dragon had not tired, for an undead does not tire until it is too tired to un-live. "Look out!" Artur was thrown to the ground by Pent's quick dive. They had barely dodged the undead fire. They have, but not their bags. Their bags full of tomes and other utensils were on fire. Pent, in just right timing, had saved all the tomes assigned to him by Athos, but the rest went down in smoke. "Ah, my books!" The bishop watched hopelessly as his bag and Pent's turned to dust.

"This is hopeless, we can't win!" Serra shouted out loud. Matthew just wanted to go up to her and smack her or something, but he had suppressed his emotions and saved his energy for another stab under the dragon's claws. The steel blade had penetrated, but the undead beast did not seem to respond to any sign or pain or exhaustion. "Die!" A great axe, like none other, had swung over the dragon's head. The monster blocked with its front claws, which was mutilated by the great Armads. "Haha! Great job Lord Hector!" The thief acclaimed, jumping to the axe-wielder's side. "Go strike, Eliwood! This is your chance." The red haired marquess appeared into the battlefield, his sword yet to be drawn. The fencer was horseless, staring at the dragon. Hector quickly recognized the look on Eliwood's face. In the red hair's eyes there was no undead dragon. His eyes showed the figure of the ice dragon, Ninian.

The swordsman stood, petrified. "Gah, not again." The dragon hurled its tail at Eliwood with crushing strength. There was no one to save Eliwood. Hector himself was too heavily weighted down by his armor and no other was around the marquess's perimeter. The tail rushed and made contact with the marquess, creating a huge collision. Eliwood stood perfectly still, Durandel half way drawn from its hilt, blocking the whip-like tail with the bit of blade that was shown. "Let's end this right now. So we can all go home." Durandel was drawn fully out of the scabbard and into Eliwood's hands. In a flash, the dragon slaying sword had slit the undead dragon into half. "Good job, my friend." The red hair whispered to his sword. The sword shone brightly under the sun, as if it was trying to reply. The dragon lied, undead no longer.

"Finally, we have docked at our familiar grounds!" Greeting the army was nothing less than the Phaeran and Ostian troops. All was back to normal, back to Phaeran as the true marquess. _Home, sweet home. _Eliwood thought.

That night, he could not sleep. He kept recounting the battle with the undead manakeet. How he had slain another dragon, just like Ninian. Just like Ninian…The thought repeated itself in the fencer's mind as he tried to sleep. It was a torment that he will carry for the rest of his life. Yet…Ninian…He had barely known how he had defeated the manakeet as well. It was purely out of instinct and out of his sword's commands. If not for his sword's courage, he would not have had the heart that time to draw a blade like Durandel at a dragon's neck.

"What?! You are leaving?! But, I wished all of you to be at this ceremony…" Eliwood looked so depressed that the tactician had almost lost her words. "I…I'm really sorry, Lord Eliwood. I still have so much to learn and-." "If it is studies that you seek, I will give you access to all of my libraries and scholars in Phaerae. Just do not desert our army." Eliwood knew deep down that he was not as good of a tactician as her. Helen was trained to be a perfect tactician, or the closest to it. "It's not deserting. I will be back. Of course I will be back. Until then, you will always have Erk. And Lord Pent just the same." Eliwood knew nothing of the boy Erk, but Pent, he was a very reliable and educated person. However, Eliwood could not stop himself from feeling saddened as another one of his old friends was leaving. He watched in his ceremonial clothing as the tactician disappeared from sight, along with the sun which set from its usual point.

Come to think of it, Pent and Erk had been working on their adventures throughout Magvel. Pent was pretty sure he was the only one keeping an entry on it. Sadly, though, the entry was burnt to ashes during the battle against the dragon, which he slew with the blades of Durandel, a horrid sword of the dragon slayers and-! Eliwood shook away from his thought and returned to his original topic. Yes, the two had been trying to retrace the story so that it can be recorded into the library's archives. The marquess hoped the end results would turn out fine.

On Magvel, the same sun was rising from its usual. Artur had just woken up from his sleep and was getting ready to greet his day of retracing the group that had come with Lord…lord… This was the problem. As his bag was destroyed in the dark fire, his diary was also destroyed. He was not a "prodigy" like Lute and his ability with memorizing names and such was not very great. He had tried hundreds of times in trying to persuaded Lute to help him on his quest in adding a chapter to the Magvelian library, yet Lute did not care a bit and refused every time. The army had helped in making sure the gates of the ruins were secured from any more infestation from the outside so Lord Ephraim's army was able to take down the Demon King with little more than an effort. Artur believed they should've gotten at least a bit of the glory for their help. Of course, their leader, the red head, had slain the great zombie dragon. He was going to ask Lute again, for aid and help and in the next week, Artur would quit his quest. No one else really knew or cared too much of the Phaeran knights anyway. Or were they Ostian? He had also heard of this place Ilia and Caelin. This was just too confusing. At least they had accepted to take Ewan in their remaining journey. That little kid was something. Maybe he would one day return and help him complete his entry. Maybe not.

Mage General Pent and Mage General Erk (Recorder of brief Ostian history), Section 53AcWW, parchment #8539, reference. Grand Library of Central Ostia.

Entry Closed


End file.
